Kiel Reijnen took a while getting up after a crash(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Kiel Reijnen (Trek-Segafredo) eventually got up and finished the stage(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
David Gaudu (FDJ) on the attack(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Antwan Tolhoek (LottoNL-Jumbo)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images Sport)
Laurens ten Dam of The Netherlands and Team Sunweb(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
The first road stage of the Criterium du Dauphine was a nervous one, and several riders hit the deck. The worst off appeared to be Trek-Segafredo's Kiel Reijnen, who hit the tarmac on a descent with 18km to go.
The American stayed on the ground longer than Bahrain-Merida's Luka Pibernik, who went down in the same incident, but Reijnen eventually got back onto his bike and finished the stage 12 minutes down on the peloton.
His team later announced that he had escaped any fractures.
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"Kiel Reijnen is very banged up after this crash, with a swollen elbow the worst of his injuries. We will know more on his status tomorrow and hope he will get the green light to take the start," the team wrote on Twitter.
Reijnen himself later added: "Plenty of missing skin, donated to the roads of France today but nothing broken. Thanks for a the well wishes. On to stage 2 of Dauphine and hopefully some better luck."
His teammate Ruben Guerreiro finished even further behind, the last of the 151 riders to complete the stage. The Portuguese rider is ill.
Team Sunweb lost two riders before the start of stage 1. Laurens ten Dam and Chris Hamilton, both of whom just finished the Giro d'Italia, are also sick and did not start.
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Groupama-FDJ's David Gaudu was involved in a different crash suffered an injury to his left hand, his team announced on Monday.
"Gaudu was admitted to the emergency service of the Saint Etienne Hospital Center. Suffering from deep wounds in the middle finger of the left hand, the young Breton rider finally received 9 stitches," the team stated in a press release.
Gaudu is expected to start stage 2.
LottoNl-Jumbo was the only team in the Dauphine not to have a rider in the reduced front peloton after it split on the climb over the Grangent Dam on the final circuit.
The squad's GC hopeful Antwan Tolhoek was caught up in a crash and the team rallied around him to try and pull him back into contention but they fell short by 40 seconds.
"This is a real pity. Very unfortunate,"directeur sportif Grischa Niermann said. "Just before the final climb, Tolhoek crashed. Sepp Kuss and Lars Boom were waiting for him, because he's our most important rider here. Neilson was also held up by that crash and had to chase as well.
"Because they attacked in the front, it was difficult to come back. They gave everything and chased full throttle. In the end, nobody was in the front group and that's a pity. Fortunately, Antwan doesn't have any serious injuries. All in all it was a bad day for us. Hopefully better tomorrow."
