Lidl-Trek's Juan Ayuso was served his latest portion of bad luck in the finale of the Grand Prix de Québec on Friday afternoon, crashing hard in the finale as one of the main chasing groups sprinted for the line.
Ayuso was not in a group contesting for the podium, but riders were still sprinting for minor placings, and a swerve from one rider caused a chain reaction, out of which the Spaniard came off worst.
Simone Gualdi (Lotto Intermarché) appeared to move across Paul Seixas (Decathlon CMA CGM), causing the Frenchman to swerve dramatically to the left, almost crashing himself. Whilst Seixas managed to hold it up, he wiped out Ayuso's front wheel, with the Spaniard unable to do anything to avoid going down. No other riders crashed in the incident.
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The uphill finish meant the crash wasn't at the highest speed, but it was a heavy collision with the tarmac as Ayuso flipped and rolled, and he stayed down for a good minute or so, moving but lying on his back.
Once he got up, he slowly walked up to the finish line, pushing his bike and slightly limping, stopping to inspect his right knee once he had crossed the line.
Despite the UCI's strict rules on deviations during sprints, and Gualdi's deviation having serious consequences, no penalty was handed out for the incident on Friday afternoon. Gualdi, who finished 14th, in fact took a trip to the podium to collect a prize as best young rider of the day.
Whilst there have not been any updates yet about any significant injuries for Ayuso, it's another stroke or poor luck for the Spaniard who was hoping to have at least a few scot-free weeks to close out his year. Set to co-lead the Spanish team at the World Championships in two weeks' time, it's bad timing to take a heavy knock.
After winning the Volta ao Algarve, his year has been punctuated by misfortune for the 23-year-old, including crashing out of Paris-Nice, crashing in training, and falling sick on the final day of the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, before a disrupted preparation saw him dissatisfied at the Tour de France.
If he is feeling recovered, Ayuso will be back in action on Sunday at the GP de Montréal, and then again at the World Championships, where he will lead Spain alongside potentially soon-to-be Vuelta a España champion Enric Mas.
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