Emma Norsgaard abandons Tour de France Femmes after dramatic crash
Large crash in peloton sees dozens of riders down amid splits in the peloton
A major crash with just over 45km remaining in stage 5 of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift split the field considerably and saw Emma Norsgaard (Movistar team) go down hard and abandon the race.
The crash, which originated from the front right of the peloton, caused the majority of the main group to come down, with Norsgaard able to stand after the crash but proving to experience invisible pain, with what appeared to be an injury to her shoulder area.
Norsgaard abandoned shortly afterwards, having been taken from the roadside in an ambulance.
Her Movistar team posted an update to social media after the stage was completed, stating that she "suffered from pain mostly to her head (which made her not available to continue), cervical vertebrae and also left shoulder." Norsgaard remained at Epinal hospital for evaluation and the team also later added that she had no fractures following the crash.
Chantal van den Broek-Blaak (SDWorx) was also being treated by the race medical car, holding a bandage to her elbow with blood dripping down her right arm - the crash saw her set back by around a minute, but later found her way back to the main group.
Marta Bastionelli of UAE ADQ also showed visible discomfort within the last 25km after having been involved in the crash, but was able to finish in the main bunch.
Norsgaard's abandon will be a blow to Annemiek van Vleuten’s GC campaign, as the Dutch team leader currently sits in eighth position, 1:18 down on current yellow jersey Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma).
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🇫🇷 #TDFF: Update from our management team at finish is that @emmanorsgaard1 suffered from pain mostly to her head (which made her not available to continue), cervical vertebrae and also left shoulder.She’s now in hospital for thorough assessments. Updates to follow as those end pic.twitter.com/UeBiq7cH4kJuly 28, 2022
Peter Stuart has been the editor of Cyclingnews since March 2022, overseeing editorial output across all of Cyclingnews' digital touchpoints.
Before joining Cyclingnews, Peter was the digital editor of Rouleur magazine. Starting life as a freelance feature writer, with bylines in The Times and The Telegraph, he first entered cycling journalism in 2012, joining Cyclist magazine as staff writer. Peter has a background as an international rower, representing Great Britain at Under-23 level and at the Junior Rowing World Championships.