Tudor Pro Cycling have explained the bizarre crash which left UAE Team Emirates-XRG with a smashed rear window on stage 5 of the Giro d'Italia, with young Frenchman Mathys Rondel colliding with the vehicle but coming away from the incident unscathed.
The broken window was revealed mid-way through the chaotic day from Praia a Mare to Potenza, where almost every bit of chaos that could have happened did on the 203 kilometre day filled with rain, crashes and drama, and that Rondel was the victim, but he raced on and finished with the group of GC favourites.
At the team bus, sports director Matteo Tosatto was able to explain the incident on what was a crazy day. Just metres behind him was Rondel warming down on the turbo trainer, having made it through the crazy day unscathed.
Latest Videos From
"The crash happened when he touched the car of UAE because of a big chaotic moment. After the big downhill, riders were totally cold and wanted to change clothing," Tosatto told Cyclingnews in Potenza.
"Mathys had a flat tyre just 10 kilometres before and changed his bike. He was coming back, and with the stress of the race, two cars in front [of him] just stopped immediately. It was because the riders in front stopped in the middle of the road, and there was no time for the vehicles to move to the left, and he hit the car.
"It broke the window of UAE's car behind, but he's already OK, everything is fine. I checked immediately after the crash his head and everything, but he was OK. It's not a nice crash in the race, but in the end, he was OK."
It happened in the opening 100km of the stage, when a torrential downpour welcomed the riders into the Basilicata region, and stayed with them on and off all the way to the finish. With low temperatures and slippery southern Italian roads, Tosatto said Wednesday's dramatic day of racing was right on the edge.
"There's rain in many races, but today was very dangerous. There was a lot of rain on the downhills and also a lot of hills during the storm, which is very dangerous," added the experienced Italian DS. "In front, I think three or four motorbikes also crashed; the stress was at the limit today."
Tudor didn't manage to get any riders into the 13-man break, which eventually fought out the stage win, but they did start the day within touching distance of the pink jersey through Florian Stork.
With Rondel crashing, Tosatto said that this had somewhat changed their potential tactics for the final, leaving much of the pacing in the group behind to pink jersey Giulio Ciccone's Lidl-Trek team after GC survival became more important than a slim chance at snatching pink.
Knowing full well that the first real big mountain test of the Giro is coming on Blockhaus in two days, Tosatto could be satisfied that they had escaped a potential nightmare.
"It changed the tactics, yes and no. I had one plan, but after Mathys' crash, I didn't want to use another rider. Also, for Storer and the GC, the best guys were behind," he said.
"Now you have Afonso Eulálio, who takes the pink jersey, and who took a lot of time on the other riders, but today survival was more important, because the coming stage in two days is very important."
Tudor will have to make it through a potentially very stressful day in Naples tomorrow to make it to the foot of the iconic Abruzzo climb still in the fight, but for the moment, they are sitting nicely with Stork, and their two GC hopes, Storer and Rondel, on the same time as most of the other favourites.
"Of course, Michael is our GC leader, but Mathys is a co-leader. You have to remember it is his first Grand Tour, for the team and for him, it is important to look day by day but with eyes on a GC top 15 or top 10," added Tosatto at the team bus.
"For Michael, it is also important to have a teammate close on GC, because you always have possible moves at different moments. For now, it is all OK."
Who will challenge Jonas Vingegaard at this year's Giro d'Italia? Subscribe to Cyclingnews for unlimited access to our coverage of the Corsa Rosa. Enjoy unrivalled reporting from our team of journalists on the ground, including breaking news, analysis, and more, from every stage as it happens, plus access to the Cyclingnews app to follow the action on the go! Find out more.
