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The Giro d’Italia was rocked by a huge crash Saturday on stage 2 of the race.
Around 20 riders came down on rain-slicked tarmac as the peloton zoomed through a fast bend 22km from the finish of the second stage through Bulgaria.
The group fell into a pile on the left-hand side of the road against metal guardrails.
Jay Vine was among the worst of the fallers and was taken away in an ambulance.
His UAE Emirates-XRG teammates António Morgado and Adam Yates were seen walking around covered in mud and blood after the crash, but got back on their bikes.
Yates finished the stage 14 minutes back. His underdog quest for a pink jersey is over.
Officials at Team UAE later revealed Marc Soler was also forced to abandon the Giro d’Italia in what was a disaster day for the super team of Tadej Pogačar. They will continue with six riders and without a GC contender.
Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious) also abandoned due to injuries sustained in the crash.
Canadian GC hope Derek Gee-West and his teammate Max Walscheid fell but were confirmed by team Lild-Trek to be unhurt. However Gee-West lost 1:01 to the lead group.
Pre-race favorite Jonas Vingegaard avoided the chaos and went on to light up the final of the stage.
Ådne Holter (Uno-X Mobility) also abandoned the Giro d’Italia after a separate crash.
Officials moved quickly to neutralize the stage after the pileup to allow the peloton to regroup and medics to attend to the fallen.
Racing restarted several kilometers later before Guillermo Thomas Silva (XDS Astana) won the hilly final in Veliko Tarnovo.
‘Everybody knew somebody was going to crash’
Morgado told Cycling Pro Net after the stage the crash felt inevitable after heavy rain during the day.
“I think everybody knew somebody was going to crash with this pavement,” Morgado said at the finish. “The bad luck was with us.
“The road was completely slippery. Everybody knew that. This is why there was a big fight [for position],” Morgado said. “We went outside of the corner and we crashed.”
Saturday marks the second day in a row the Giro d’Italia has been impacted by crashes. The opening stage on Friday was marred by a pileup 600 meters from the finish.
Here’s our full report and reaction from the stage.
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