The final stage of the Ruta del Sol saw Ethan Hayter (Ineos Grenadiers) win in Pulpí as Miguel Ángel López (Astana-Premier Tech) clinched overall victory, but the dash to the line was marred by a crash involving Daryl Impey (Israel Start-Up Nation) and Robert Stannard (Team BikeExchange).
Impey, who was sprinting for the line alongside Hayter, looked to drift left from his line as the lead group approached the final metres of the stage, taking out Stannard who was coming up quickly on the left-hand side of the road.
The pair tangled and hit the ground hard, sliding just short of the finish line, with Stannard eventually finishing in 21st place and Impey dead last after looking to come off worse.
At the time of writing, there have been no medical updates issued from either rider's team, though the clash could mean another decision for the UCI's Disciplinary Commission in the near future.
"I was just unlucky in the final, the boys did an amazing job on the final climb, Durbo bringing me right to the front at the bottom of the climb, and then Tsgabu pulling over the top and all the way into the last kilometre," Stannard said.
"I did a great sprint but was unlucky with the crash. I know I've got great form at the moment and I have the Dauphine in a week with some good stages for me. I'm also hoping Daryl [Impey] is ok after the crash, it's not a good way to finish the race, but it's part of racing and I don't think it's anyone's fault."
The Commission last year levied a nine-month ban against Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma) after the Dutchman caused a crash having deviated from his line at last year's Tour de Pologne, while earlier this year Nacer Bouhannni (Arkéa-Samsic) got a two-month ban for running Groupama-FDJ's Jake Stewart into the barriers at Cholet-Pays de la Loire.
