All it took was a split second race-altering crash to dramatically the 2025 Giro d'Italia from a series of celebrations to pain and disappointment.
Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and Simon Yates (Visma-Lease a Bike) got going quickly, and Wout Van Aert dragged them and a few other GC contenders to the finish, while Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers), Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and others lost 48 seconds.
That seemed disastrous, but the crash was far worse for Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) and fellow Italian Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious).
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Ciccone crashed hard, injuring his right thigh. He seemed close to abandoning the race, but somehow got going again, rode to the finish escorted by his teammates, to perhaps live to fight for another day.
His hopes to fight for overall victory and the general classification, however, are definitely over. He finished 16:14 down on stage winner Kapser Asgreen (EF Education-EasyPost) and almost as much on his GC rivals. He slipped to 27th on the GC, at 18:18. but a few hours after the stage Lild-Trek announced that Ciccone was out of the Giro.
"Exams confirmed that Ciccone has suffered a major haematoma on the vastus lateralis muscle on his right quadricep as well as a small muscle fascia injury. His injuries are such that he will be unable to continue racing in the Giro d’Italia," the team announced.
"No surgery is required, but Ciccone will require a rest period of around two weeks."
Ciccone was devastated.
"I have no words," he said.
"I tried to fight to finish the stage because I was hoping that the hospital checks would show that it was not so bad and I could recover and fight for a stage, but I understood straight away that it was something important because the pain was too much, and now we know why.
"It hurts to leave the Giro like this, especially with the climbs still to come and the great feeling in the team, as well as leaving the good position I had in the GC. Now I need time to recover and we will see for the rest of the season."
Cyclingnews was at the finish line when Ciccone arrived. He quickly entered the podium area for treatment, but we saw he was in pain and could hardly walk. He eventually was able to ride to the Lidl-Trek team bus parked three kilometres away, and from there he was taken to the hospital for scans and full examinations which confirmed his injuries.
"He hit his leg hard. There's something wrong with his muscles. He didn't seem to be doing very well," teammate Daan Hoole told Dutch Eurosport.
"It really sucks. Ciccone’s classification is gone and everyone except Carlos Verona has fallen."
Hoole explained how the crash happened.
"We drove like crazy to the circuit. There we came to a slippery, wet corner on cobblestones. There were five of us in the top fifteen. I think it was Antonio Tiberi who slid out first. Then you brake and everyone falls."
Tiberi got up and chased the different groups that were spread out on the rain-soaked roads of Gorizia as the finishing circuit crossed from Italy to Slovenia and back on the no-borders roads of the town.
Tiberi had several teammates with him but still lost 1:44 to Del Toro and Simon Yates, and 56 seconds to Ayuso, Roglič and others. He slipped five places in the GC to eighth overall at 3:02.
He was also in pain after hurting his left hip in the crash.
"I think I've got more than just road rash because I hit the kerb hard and really felt it when I got up. Riders hit me and I had my ankle blocked between the crank and a bike," Tiberi explained beyond the finish line.
He was the first rider to go down in the mass pile-up.
"We were on the wet cobbles as the road narrowed. I think a rider in front of me lost his balance, my front wheel slipped out, and I went down hard into the kerb. Then other riders hit us."
Yet he tried to stay optimistic.
"Fortunately, I took a teammate's bike and so was able to chase straightaway and limit the time loss. I feel lucky that I've nothing broken. We did everything we could as a team."
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