Just after the flamme rouge, stage 5 of the Simac Ladies Tour ended abruptly for five riders as they were vying for a good position going into the sprint finish when World champion Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) and Charlotte Kool (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) collided, sending both riders flying.
Riding next to Kopecky, Marthe Truyen (Fenix-Deceuninck) was thrown off-balance, veering into a car parked in a roadside parking bay before crashing herself. Karlijn Swinkels (UAE Team ADQ) managed to brake and steer to avoid Kool but then found herself lightly impacting the bonnet of the same car.
Anniina Ahtosalo (Uno-X Mobility) had her front wheel taken out by the Truyen’s rear wheel, making the Finnish champion go to the ground as well. Truyen’s teammate Julie De Wilde had to brake hard to avoid Kool’s flying bike, stayed upright, but then stepped off the bike to check on Truyen and collect herself.
Silje Bader (DSM-Firmenich PostNL), Lonneke Uneken (SD Worx-Protime), and Susanne Andersen (Uno-X Mobility) also stopped to look after their crashed teammates.
Since the crash happened within the final three kilometres, any time gaps were nullified, and all riders received the same time as stage winner Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime).
This was of no help to Kool, though as the Dutch sprinter was too hurt to finish and had to abandon the race. "It's not how we wanted the season to end for Charlotte, but we can look back on some special moments together. Heal up and we'll be back next year," DSM-Firmenich PostNL commented on Twitter following the race.
Kopecky managed to finish the stage after a brief medical check but sported large abrasions on her left shoulder and hip and underwent a more thorough examination after the race.
"A day with mixed feelings. Lorena Wiebes sprinted to the 4th victory in a row for team SD Worx-Protime in Simac Ladies Tour but Lotte Kopecky was involved in a hard crash. She was able to ride to the finish line herself. We will come with an update later," SD Worx-Protime posted to Twitter following the race.
Swinkels, Truyen and De Wilde had come off lightly, their teams confirming to Cyclingnews that they hadn’t suffered any injuries.
Ahtosalo suffered bruises on her hip but escaped serious injuries.
“We will monitor her overnight and do a health check tomorrow before the stage, but at this moment it looks positive for her to race the final stage tomorrow,” Uno-X Mobility sport director Alex Greenfield told Cyclingnews.
