EF Education-EasyPost's Richard Carapaz has escaped serious injury after crashing heavily in the final 30km of Il Lombardia, his team confirmed on Saturday evening.
The American team described the final Monument as a "tough day" for their squad, with Carapaz's crash occurring after other options, Ben Healy and Neilson Powless, had suffered from fatigue and switched their plans to support the Ecuadorian.
However, it wasn't to be for Carapaz, as he came off on the fast descent of the Passo di Ganda, as the riders tried to chase down the solo Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG).
Fortunately, despite the speed of the crash, his injuries were only minor.
"Richie suffered road rash but escaped any broken bones in his crash," the team said. "Initial tests cleared him of a concussion, but our medical team will continue to monitor him in the coming days."
In the end, EF's final Monument ended anti-climactically, with only two riders finishing, and Alex Baudin in 29th their top result.
Tour de France standout rider Healy has had a strong final part of the season, finishing on the podium at the World Championships, but was beset by tiredness in the final big race of the year.
"We had high hopes with three big riders coming into the race," EF sports director Charly Wegelius said, referring to Healy, Carapaz and Powless.
"For Ben, it was obviously one week or one race too long after a long, long season with a lot of highs, including his Tour de France stage win, days in the yellow jersey, and recent third place at worlds," he said of the Irish rider.
"Neilson was also struggling a little bit. Going for goals like this late in the year, you always run the risk of running out of gas, and that's what happened.
"Richie was handling a bit of fatigue as well. We tried to keep his week as light as possible. He was performing well late in the race, and then he had that crash, and that was the end of it.
"That’s cycling. We hoped for more, but I am glad that Richie’s injuries don’t seem to be as serious as they could have been, and he shouldn’t be held back this winter."
