Stage 1 of the RideLondon Classique noticed a number of crashes that compelled riders to desert. With two riders not beginning the stage, the peloton for stage 2 is lowered by 10 riders already.
The best-profile rider to desert the race was Elisa Balsamo (Trek-Segafredo). She crashed twice within the first half of the stage and finally climbed off her bike. The crew later said she had suffered fractures within the left scaphoid bone in addition to fractures of each the left and proper mandible which would require surgical procedure.
Mari Gap Mohr of Workforce Coop-Hitec Merchandise went down even earlier than Balsamo’s crash and likewise needed to abandon the race. The crew confirmed to Cyclingnews that Mohr was OK, however the Norwegian squad is all the way down to solely 4 riders as Josie Nelson didn’t begin stage 1, nonetheless displaying concussion signs after a crash on the Vuelta Femenina.
One other non-starter in Saffron Walden was Becky Storrie (Workforce DSM) who had been affected by sickness within the days as much as the race. However even with out her assist, her teammate Kool went on to win the stage.
The largest crash of the day occurred with about 61 kilometres to go when a number of riders didn’t discover a site visitors island in time. Sammie Stuart (DAS-Handsling) went down onerous, shedding a whole lot of pores and skin, however she did end and hopes to start out once more tomorrow. Chloé Dygert (Canyon-SRAM) additionally went down on this crash however was up once more shortly and nicely sufficient to play a outstanding function within the closing. Her crew confirmed that she felt a bit sore however had no accidents.
Different riders had been much less lucky. Alison Avoine (St Michel-Mavic-Auber93) couldn’t get again on her bike, deserted the race, and was taken to a hospital for additional evaluation. Kate Richardson (Lifeplus-Wahoo) additionally stopped as she had a dislocated her shoulder.
Arianna Fidanza (Ceratizit-WNT) was taken down when different riders crashed into her, getting bruises and highway rash from the impression. Having suffered a number of crashes lately, she was shaken up by the expertise and didn’t proceed the race.
Josie Talbot (Cofidis) and Fien Delbaere (Israel-Premier Tech Roland) additionally deserted the race after this crash whereas Gladys Verhulst (FDJ-SUEZ) didn’t end after a mechanical.
Regardless of her accidents, Sammie made it by to the end right this moment.It’s not going to be a snug night time for Sammie however 🤞she’ll take to the bike once more tomorrow@RideLondon pic.twitter.com/nA7VUNmP6KMight 26, 2023
