(Lyon) The favorites for the next Tour de France, Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic, were involved in a pileup on Thursday at the Critérium du Dauphiné, forcing the organizing committee to interrupt the stage.
Evenepoel and Roglic were able to get up on their own, before the organizing committee put an end to the ordeal. Evenepoel leads in the general classification, ahead of the Slovenian.
Dutch cyclist Steven Kruijswijk was taken by ambulance after the incident. The organizing committee said teammate Dylan van Baarle was also injured during the pileup, possibly suffering a shoulder injury.
The cyclists involved in the pile-up were travelling at high speed when it happened, on a downhill slope, on a wet road, approximately 21km from the finish line of the fifth stage.
The organizing committee decided to interrupt the stage –– which means that the times will not be counted in the general classification – due to a shortage of ambulances.
“The race has been interrupted, times will not be taken into account at the finish line and there will be no stage winner,” announced the organizing committee.
The Critérium du Dauphiné is a preparatory event for the Tour de France, which will begin on June 29.