Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) will not start Saturday's stage 6 of the Volta a Catalunya because of injuries suffered in his major crash the day before, when he fell into a ravine on a downhill.
Pidcock crashed with 30 kilometres to go on the descent of the Collada Sobirana. He was able to get back to the race and continue, although he later revealed that the fall was so perilous that 'today I lost a life for sure.'
He added jokingly that "I'm going to self-proclaim as a ninja crasher, 60kph off a mountain and I'm relatively OK."
However, despite completing the stage nearly half an hour down - and plummeting to 74th overall in the process - the 2026 Milan-San Remo runner-up was later taken for medical diagnoses at the hospital and with his team and the news was not nearly so good.
“Due to his crash, he suffered injuries, most likely bone and ligament damage, in particular to his right knee and also right wrist," Lorenz Emmert, Chief Medical Team Doctor, said in a team statement.
"Unfortunately, we had to make the decision to take him out of the race.
"Further clinical evaluation and imaging will follow in the next days, additionally to the already initiated healing process."
Pidcock will remain under close observation in the coming days, with further evaluations ongoing. No date has yet been provided for his return for racing - he is due to tackle the Ardennes Classics after Catalunya - but the team says any additional updates will be communicated once more precise information becomes available.
The Briton himself said in the same team statement that “We did everything to try to make it to the start but it’s not possible.
"I fought to finish the stage yesterday [Friday] to make sure I had the option to continue. Now the focus is on recovery, and I’ll be back.”
Pidcock is not the only top name in the race who has suffered crashes in the race. Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) fell heavily whilst on the attack on stage 3, but was able to continue despite his injuries.
Currently led by stage 5 winner Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike), Catalunya continues today with the toughest day of the entire race through the lower Pyrenees from Berga to Queralt. It finishes on Sunday in Barcelona.
