Race leader Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) rolled home on stage 2 of the Renewi Tour after a crash and a 65km struggle that saw him trail by several minutes and even have to stand aside in the finale as he was lapped by the peloton.
The Italian, swapping his national champion's jersey for the light blue race leader's jersey following his victory on the opening day, hit the deck heavily in a huge crash on the finishing circuit in Ardooie.
The race had been splitting in the crosswinds and tensions were high when an Alpecin-Premier Tech rider overlapped a wheel and jutted to the left, sparking a chain reaction that sent riders bouncing off each other and many to the ground. It was a sprawling crash that involved a good central chunk of the peloton.
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Jayco-AlUla's Amaury Capiot was seemingly the worst affected, his teammate Luke Durbridge calling for medical attention as he hovered over him, with Capiot soon taken away in an ambulance.
Milan was also in a bad way and didn't get up for a few minutes. As he lay stricken initially, it looked as though his race was over. He had landed awkwardly and was clutching his right arm, with a grimace on his face.
However, Milan eventually remounted and carried on. The peloton was already several minutes up ahead by the time he'd got going again, and there was no chance of getting back in. In fact, Milan could barely hold the wheel of his teammate Simone Consonni, who'd been ordered to wait for him, and at that point it looked unlikely that Milan would be able to ride like this for the 60km required to make it to the finish.
But ride on he did, sticking with Consonni well behind the peloton as the laps of the Ardooie circuit ticked down, and the time gap ticked up, well into the double digits.
There was, however, a spanner in the works on the final lap. He was so far behind that the peloton was actually coming up behind him, and the organisers, after discussions with the Lidl-Trek team car, ordered Milan and Consonni to stop and pull over.
The pair of them stood and chatted at the side of the road before the peloton went past, and they could get going again, still needing to cross the finish line and then ride a whole other lap.
They completed the race within the time limit and will be able to continue in the race on Friday on stage 3.
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