In the finale of yesterday's stage, slick, wet roads coupled with a tight technical finish was a recipe for disaster, so it wasn't too much of a surprise to see a bunch of blokes go down 300 metres from the line.
One of those riders was Selle Italia Diquigiovanni's Alberto Loddo, who was holding an excellent position at the head of the peloton, but the push and shove which is part and parcel of sprinting saw the Italian slide out with 100 metres to go.
When Cyclingnews caught up with Loddo, he was looking a little sore, grimacing from the chunk of skin missing from his hip, but thankfully he or the other riders involved in the crash were not seriously hurt. "The finish [was] dangerous, because with rain and some riders are not so intelligent in the finish," said team manager Gianni Savio.
"It's unfortunate, because he was in very good position at the finish in the last 100 metres in second position, but one British rider (gestures his shoulder) hooked him. Fortunately, there is nothing broken, but...
"Too dangerous?" we asked.
"Troppo pericoloso (too dangerous)," Savio affirmed, but in fairness to the race organisers, without the rain, the finish would have most probably gone without a hitch.
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