Multiple riders crashed in the final 400 metres of Thursday's Tour de France stage, with Fernando Gaviria (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), stage 11 winner Søren Wærenskjold (Uno-X Mobility), Dorian Godon (Netcompany Ineos) and several others going down in a high-speed, domino effect crash on stage 12.
It was Gaviria who fell first after bumping shoulders with Olav Kooij (Decathlon CMA CGM), who managed to stay up, but the Colombian rider went down hard and took several other riders with him.
Wærenskjold and Godon were the first to go down at high speed as a direct result of Gaviria's fall, plus a pair of Lotto Intemarché riders and riders from Picnic PostNL.
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Riders behind in the next part of the peloton got off slightly lighter as they weren't going at such high speed, but multiple riders came off, and the whole road was blocked.
Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) won the stage in front, with only 15 or so riders avoiding the crash as the sprint opened up on the right and Gaviria came down on the left.
Godon looked to be one of the riders most hurt, staying on the ground for a while and being tended to by a teammate. Gaviria also hit his head incredibly hard on the tarmac but was standing and conscious.
Race leader Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) had to stop due to the crash but was otherwise unaffected. Happening well within the 5km safe rule, no riders who were in the peloton at the time of the crash will lose any time on the stage or GC.
The run-in to Chalon-sur-Saône was very technical for a sprint finish, with multiple corners, roundabouts, road furniture and squeezes in the final kilometres which made for a tense and cagey sprint as riders struggled to stay in touch with their lead-outs and the front of the race.
The final 500 metres was not without difficulties, either, going uphill towards the line and featuring several kinks in the road rather than a pin-straight shoot the line.
What's more, there were periodical speed bumps, including one just before the crash, though in closer inspection it doesn't appear to be the cause of the incident – Gaviria knocked into Kooij in a seemingly unrelated incident as the two fought for a similar line.
Gaviria eventually crossed the line, having to be pushed by a teammate and cradling his left arm in what is often a tell-tale sign of a broken collarbone. He also had wounds where his skinsuit had ripped.
It was an extreme turn of fortunes for Wærenskjold, who of course won on Wednesday only to crash extremely hard in the next sprint, with his teammate Jonas Abrahamsen coming down too.
"Half of the bunch got knocked down in a very fast final. Scary images, but it seems like more or less everybody could finish the race," Uno-X team manager Thor Hushovd told Cyclingnews at the finish.
As for injuries, the long-term effects may not yet be known, and even riders who escaped an immediate broken bone will be sore from such a high-speed crash.
"He's hurt everywhere, you know, sliding on the road at nearly 80km an hour, it's painful," Hushovd said of Wærenskjold. "It's a shame because he was in good shape, but it's part of cycling."
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