The Giro d'Italia Women has barely got underway, and already a star rider is heading home after a crash in the early kilometres of the opening stage.
The first live television images of the race showed a crash in the peloton as a touch of wheels saw a host of riders hit the deck in the middle of the group, 49km into the 139km stage.
Riders caught up in the carnage included Cat Ferguson (Movistar) and Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Oatly), with Ferguson coming out the worst off and staying on the ground.
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It soon transpired that Ferguson wouldn't be able to continue in the race, and so the 20-year-old's Giro d'Italia debut sadly drew to a close on day one as she was forced to abandon.
"Following an incident during today's stage, Cat Ferguson has been transported to the hospital for further medical assessment after the crash," Movistar announced on Instagram.
"We will provide an update as soon as more details become available."
No other riders abandoned as a result of the crash. The stage, running from Cesenatico to Ravenna, is expected to conclude in a sprint finish.
Ferguson was racing her second Grand Tour after taking part in La Vuelta Femenina last year.
She was part of the support squad behind Movistar's GC hope, Marlen Reusser, and was in strong form herself, having recently won the Navarra Women's Elite Classic in Pamplona.
Every rider who started the Giro d'Italia in Cesenatico would have been hoping to make it all the way to Saluzzo, but with many tough stages along the way, a lot can go wrong and force riders to leave the race early.
Abandons might come mid-stage after a crash or illness, with riders climbing into a team car or being taken away by ambulance instead of finishing the stage, whilst others may decide to pull out overnight and not start the next day. 'DNF' means 'did not finish', 'DNS' means 'did not start'.
Riders can also be removed from the race by the organisation, either by finishing outside of the time limit or even being disqualified due to rule infringements. 'OTL' means 'outside time limit' and 'DSQ' means 'disqualified'.
Here is the list of all the riders who have pulled out of Giro d'Italia Women, which we will keep updated through the week.
Giro d'Italia Women 2026 abandons
Stage 1
- Cat Ferguson (Movistar) - DNF, crash
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