The opening stage of the 2022 Giro d'Italia went from promising to disaster for Caleb Ewan (Lotto Soudal), who was sprinting in third position in the final metres of the finish at the Visegrád Citadel, when he touched wheels with Biniam Girmay (Intermarché-Wanty Gobert) and crashed.
Ewan, 27, was the lone pure sprinter to survive the multitude of attacks on the 5.6 kilometre finishing climb and fighting for the stage win and first maglia rosa against eventual winner Mathieu van der Poel (Alpecin-Fenix) and runner-up Girmay when he ran his front wheel into the rear tyre of the Eritrean and fell sprawling to the tarmac.
The Lotto Soudal rider stayed down for several moments before getting up and struggling across the finish line 1:04 down on the stage winner. His team stated on social media that Ewan was able to ride to the team bus having suffered abrasions but avoided further injury and will be able to start Saturday's time trial in Budapest.
"Unfortunately, Caleb Ewan touched the back wheel of Girmay, which caused him to crash just before the finish line," Lotto Soudal stated. "Apart from several abrasions, Caleb came away without any severe injuries and will take the start in the ITT tomorrow."
Ewan's teammate, Belgian climber Harm Vanhoucke, also crashed in a separate incident with 6km to go on the opening stage.
