The dramatic crash that led to the cancellation of stage 2 of the Etoile de Bessèges has not produced the sort of injury list many perhaps expected, but there were still a couple of broken bones and several riders out of the race.
A huge number of riders piled up after a touch of wheels on the pinch point of a narrow stone bridge just over 20km from the finish of Friday's stage, with Valentin Ferron (TotalEnergies) remarkably left hanging from the side of the bridge.
With no finishers recorded at the end of the neutralised stage, there were no official abandons until the race resumed in Bessèges on Friday morning. There, at least 12 riders did not stage stage 3.
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They were: Lars van den Berg (Groupama-FDJ), Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), Otto Vergaerde (Trek-Segafredo), Morné Van Niekerk (St Michel-Mavic-Auber), Martí Márquez (Kern Pharma), Nathan Vandepitte (Bingoal-WB), Aaron Verwilst (Flanders-Baloise), Jacob Eriksson (Tudor Pro Cycling), the Lotto-Dstny duo of Sebastien Grignard and Cedric Beullens (Lotto-Dstny), and the GoSport-Roubaix-Métropole duo of Thomas Boudat and Valentin Tabellion.
Van den Berg sustained a non-displaced fracture of the radial head of his right elbow, while Healy suffered a fractured metacarpal bone in his hand.
Grignard escaped without fractures but was badly banged up, requiring stitches in his face, elbow and knee. multiple abrasions and bruises. He also received stitches in the face, elbow and knee. His teammate Buellens, who also crashed on stage 1 and previously at the GP La Marseillaise, is out with a knee wound.
Van Niekerk also ended up without any broken bones but will require "a few days of rest in order to recover from the shock". Márquez, meanwhile, has left the race without a full indication of his injuries from Kern Pharma.
As for the two GoSport-Roubaix abandons, Boudat has pain in the ribs and right knee, while Tabellion suffered a dislocated shoulder.
On top of the riders leaving the race, many more are soldiering on with their wounds. Dylan Teuns (Israel-Premier Tech) had his face heavily bandaged after also needing stitches. His teammate Guillaume Boivin sustained contusions on his hand and back.
Simon Carr (EF Education-EasyPost), Lauren Pichon (Arkéa-Samsic), Alexandre Delettre (Cofidis) and the TotalEnergies duo of Mathieu Burgaudeau and Anthony Turgis were among the riders to suffer minor scrapes, while Michal Kwiatkowski (Ineos Grenadiers) also came down without any ill effects.
Overall contender Benoît Cosnefroy (AG2R CItroën) was bashed up but sustained his injuries in an earlier crash. He decided to start "after a good night's sleep".
There was another indication of the dangers of such crashes as Rudy Barbier (St Michel-Mavic-Auber), who suffered contusions on his shoulder and hip, posted a photo of his heavily dented helmet on social media.
As for Ferron, he recounted his remarkable experience to Cyclingnews, with his team summing it up: "More of a fright than any harm."
