Bahrain-Victorious teammates Jack Haig and Santiago Buitrago, and UAE Team Emirates-EXG's João Almeida and bore the worst of a crash in the lead group of overall contenders with 6.5km remaining of stage 7 won by his teammate Tadej Pogačar atop the Mûr-de-Bretagne, Guerlédan, on Friday at the Tour de France.
Buitrago and Haig were positioned in 14th and 20th overall classification at the start of the day, but Haig's injuries have forced him to abandon the stage, while Buitrago lost more than 13 minutes and is now out of contention for a top placing in the GC standings.
Almeida also finished the stage more than nine minutes down.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG have stated in a medical update that Almeida has suffered a left-side rib fracture.
"João suffered a heavy fall in the stage finale today. Thankfully there was no serious injury and he was able to finish the stage. After clinical examination, we immediately took him for relevant radiological investigations. It’s confirmed he has an uncomplicated left-sided rib fracture, as well as some profound abrasions to his body," said medical director, Dr. Adrian Rotunno.
"Fortunately, no concussion. We will be monitoring him carefully going forward. The next few days will be difficult for him, but at this point, he should be able to start tomorrow’s stage.”
Bahrain Victorious wrote on X, "Unfortunately, it was a day to forget for TBV, as a nasty crash within the last few km saw Jack Haig and Santiago Buitrago down. Jack was forced to abandon, although Santi did heroically make it across the finish line. We await updates from the medical team."
The crash happened in a small lead group with 6.5km to go in the 197km race from Saint-Malo to the Mûr-de-Bretagne that included many of the main overall classification contenders, including Pogačar, Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) and their support riders.
As the GC-heavy group was setting a fast pace toward the final, a touch of wheels near the back on the right-hand side of the winding and narrow roads saw roughly 12 riders go down, including Haig, Buitrago and Almeida along with the previous day's stage winner Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), Matej Mohoric (also Bahrain-Victorious), Enric Mas (Movistar), Guillaume Martin and Valentin Madousa (both Groupama FDJ), Louis Barré (Intermarchè-Wanty) and Warren Barguil (Team Picnic PostNL).
Pogačar went on to win the stage and reclaimed the overall race lead, but his teammate Almeida crossed the finish line more than nine minutes later and stopped for medical support for what appeared to be road rash across his back, right arm and leg.
"We did an almost perfect [race] but unfortunately João crashed and I hope that he is OK," Pogačar said in a post-race interview. "If he is OK, then it is a perfect day, and if he is not, then this victory is for him. Right now, I just wish that he is OK."
The Portuguese rider was seventh overall at the start of the stage and is Pogačar's key support riders in the mountain stages as he aims to claim his third overall title at the Tour de France.
Healy got back up quickly from the crash and finished the day in a group 1:45 back, dropping three places in the overall classification to eleventh, now 3:55 back.
Mas, Martin, Madouas, Barguil and Barré, who crossed the line with torn shorts and road race across his legs, also regained ground quickly and finished the stage among several smaller groups minutes off the back.
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