Darren Rafferty (EF Education-EasyPost) was among the victims of the high speed crashes on stage 5 of Critérium du Dauphiné today when over 50 riders hit the deck in two consecutive incidents about 20km from the finish.
Rafferty told stickybottle he was hopeful his crash injuries would not rule him out of the race and was optimistic of starting tomorrow’s stages, the first of three hard days of climbing to complete the eight-stage race.
He explained he had a “few cuts and bruises” but was “mostly OK and should be starting tomorrow”, when the race travels some 174km from Hauterives to a summit finish on the HC Le Collet d’Allevard, an 11.2km ascent averaging 8.5 per cent gradient.
Due to the very wet road conditions, most of the rides slid across the road and onto grass verges for long distances and the two incidents, one after the other, did not result in a large number of broken bones like some of the crashes earlier this season.
However, Visma Lease a Bike’s Dylan van Baarle and Steven Kruijswijk suffered a fractured collarbone and small hip fracture respectively. Rémy Rochas (Groupama-FDJ) was also forced out due to the crash, as was Laurens Huys (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) and Axel Mariault (Cofidis).
The race was halted and neutralised as a result of the crash incidents, which took place while the riders were on a descending fast section, which was waterlogged.
While the race got going again, the peloton simply pedaled in to the finish, with no stage result registering today and the general classification left unchanged.
⏪ The fall, the descent of the Bel-Air hill which led to many runners and the complete neutralization of the stage.
⏪ The crash on the descent of the côte de Bel-Air which involved a large number of riders and led to the complete neutralisation of the stage.… pic.twitter.com/blRfrlhBio
— Critérium du Dauphiné (@dauphine) June 6, 2024
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