What do you get when you mix narrow, cobbled farm tracks with thinly clothed cyclists racing at full tilt? Well, you get Paris-Roubaix, one of the world's oldest, biggest, and most unique bike races. You also get a lot of painful crashes.
Every year, tales of torrid spills play out on the cobblestones on northern France. The TV cameras catch some of them, but most are only revealed afterwards, either when the wounded pedal into Roubaix Velodrome, the teams give an update online, or the official medical report is published.
Despite the dry conditions, 53 men did not finish this year's Paris-Roubaix, while 13 women abandoned Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift, leaving an extensive injury list.
Among those hurt was Silvan Dillier (Alpecin-Deceuninck), who was suspected to have broken his hand in a high-speed collision with another team's mechanic.
Dillier later revealed he had suffered no serious injuries, unlike his Swiss compatriot, Groupama-FDJ's Stefan Küng, who also crashed hard during the race, falling on his face on a cobbled sector and receiving stitches for the wounds.
In the women's race on Saturday, Sigrid Haugset of Coop Repsol rode through the pain of a fractured hip, finishing 71st on her race debut, 12 minutes behind the winner, Pauline Ferrand-Prévot.
Speaking to Cyclingnews from hospital, Haugset later said: "In hindsight, it probably wasn't the best idea to continue, but at the same time you don't know how bad the injury is. And it’s Roubaix, so I wanted to finish."
Below is the weekend's injury list, compiled by Cycling Weekly from the race's official medical reports and various team updates.
Men's race injuries
Davide Ballerini (XDS Astana): Left wrist fracture. DNF.
Ayco Bastiaens (Soudal Quick-Step): Left collarbone fracture – taken to hospital in Cambrai. DNF.
Silvan Dillier (Alpecin-Deceuninck): Suspected right hand fracture – later confirmed no break. DNF.
Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ): Face injury – required stitches. Finished 43rd.
Matej Mohoric (Bahrain Victorious): Multiple bruises and grazes. DNF.
Manlio Moro (Movistar): Left collarbone fracture – taken to hospital in Cambrai. DNF.
Nils Politt (UAE Team Emirates-XRG): Road rash. DNF.
Abram Stockman (Unibet Tietema Rockets): Right wrist fracture. Finished 77th.
Edward Theuns (Lidl-Trek): Injury to the neck – taken to hospital in Valenciennes. DNF.
Albert Torres (Movistar): Trauma and bruising to left elbow. DNF.
Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek): Head injury – underwent concussion protocol. Finished 116th.
Julius van den Berg (Picnic PostNL): Right collarbone fracture – taken to hospital in Valenciennes. DNF.
Women's race injuries
Marte Berg Edseth (Uno-X): Left hip and elbow injury – taken to hospital in Denain. DNF.
Cat Ferguson (Movistar): Bruises, but no serious injury. DNF.
Sigrid Haugset (Coop Repsol): Broken hip. Finished 71st, and was later taken to hospital in Roubaix.
