After four days of racing, three riders have abandoned the 2025 Giro d'Italia, with Nickolas Zukowsky (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) joining Mikel Landa (Soudal-QuickStep) and Geoffrey Bouchard (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) in the list of drop-outs.
The Canadian rider was involved in a crash on stage 4, when a stray bottle saw several riders towards the back of the peloton go down. All got back on, except Zukowsky, who stayed sitting and holding his shoulder in a position often associated with a collarbone break.
No injuries have been confirmed yet, but Zukowsky didn't finish the stage to Lecce, and became the third rider to leave the race.
General classification hopeful Landa was the first rider to abandon the 2025 Giro d'Italia after crashing heavily in the final 6km of the opening stage in Albania.
The Spanish rider crashed at high speed on the descent of the Surrel climb with 5.3km remaining in the 160-kilometre stage, coming off the road with Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) and others. Landa fell heavily over a metre-high ledge onto the sidewalk in a bend.
Soudal-QuickStep later released a medical update that confirmed Landa had suffered a stable fracture of the Thoracic 11 vertebra and that he will need to remain in a stable lying position for an extended period of time.
"He will remain at the hospital overnight, before further assessment and a plan for his return home will be made," the team said.
Landa came to the Giro as Soudal-QuickStep's overall leader, hoping to add an eleventh top-10 finish in a Grand Tour and aim towards a repeat of his two podium finishes in 2015 and 2022.
Geoffrey Bouchard (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) crashed in the same incident as Landa, and also left the race on day one.
Despite a hectic start in Albania and a testing finishing circuit on Lecce on stage 4, there have been relatively few crashes in the Giro d'Italia so far, and only three abandons.
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Stage 1
- Mikel Landa (Soudal-QuickStep) – crash on fast descent, fractured vertebra
- Geoffrey Bouchard (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) – crash on fast descent
Stage 4
- Nickolas Zukowsky (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) – crash in the bunch, injuries not yet known
