There were dramatic scenes in the Volta a Catalunya today as Remco Evenepoel crashed in the final kilometre of stage 3 after staging a late charge for the line with Jonas Vingegaard.
Evenepoel fell at a roundabout, explaining to Sporza that he hit a pothole. While he was able to stand up again, his chances of a spectacular unexpected win had gone up in smoke.
"I wanted to get onto my drops and just at that moment there was a pothole that I didn't see, that wasn't marked. Then I lost my handlebars," Evenepoel said.
While he seemed uninjured, he was particularly concerned about wounds to his elbow.
"My elbow is hit quite hard, so we have to see what is and isn't possible," he said.
"I'm in a bit of pain everywhere. My elbow is open, my back is open, and my hips are open."
"Now I have to let my body recover a bit, and then we'll see what it has to say tonight and especially tomorrow morning."
The two top favourites for the race took off some 30 kilometres from the line, opening up a gap of 20 seconds behind an echelon-shattered peloton.
Five kilometres from the line they all but sat up, only for Evenepoel to re-up his pace - and then crash just as the two were building up for a sprint.
Although injured, Evenepoel had no regrets about his attack. "I rode to win," Evenepoel he said. "That was our intention today with the crosswinds."
Evenepoel received very little cooperation from Vingegaard during the escape, saying. "I don't pay much attention to what others' tactics are. That is their problem. It was clear who wanted to ride to win and who didn't."
On what should have a been a straightforward transition stage from Mont-roig del Camp to Vila-seca, the crash happened at the end of a very long straightaway well inside the final kilometre, which the two took at speed.
But if Vingegaard came through unscathed, Evenepoel was much less fortunate, going over the bars - according to Vingegaard later on - standing up again very quickly, and then briefly walking away from the road.
Vingegaard then sat up, with the sprint won by Dorian Godon (Ineos Grenadiers), whilst Remco and his team car gloomily assessed any potential damage behind.
As race ambulances rushed to the scene, Evenepoel managed to remount and cross the line behind, with the three kilometres-to-go rule meaning that he was safely within the same time as the remainder of the peloton.
