Team SD Worx confirmed late Friday that Marlen Reusser would not start stage 7 of the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift on Saturday.
The stage 4 winner was caught in a crash during Friday’s 128km run from Saint-Dié-Des-Vosgues to Rosheim and after the finish of stage 6 a medical evaluation concluded she could not continue to race.
“A hospital examination revealed that she suffered a concussion after her crash. Rest is necessary to recover. Reusser was an important link in the Team SD Worx team,” said a team statement on social media.
The team had a mixed bag of escapades on stage 6, with Christine Majerus part of the early breakaway and sprinter Lotte Kopecky fighting back for a podium result. Kopecky was involved in a crash with under 23km to race, along with Lorena Wiebes (Team DSM), Alena Amialiusik (Canyon-SRAM) and teammate Reusser. Kopecky was able to chase down the peloton and finish third in Rosheim, the stage won by race leader Marianne Vos (Jumbo-Visma).
The other riders continued as well in chase mode, but never rejoined the front group of 39 riders who contested the bunch sprint. Amialiusik finished a little over one minute back, Wiebes was well back at 7:34 behind Vos and Reusser managed to finish 15:10 back, with eight other riders still to cross the line.
"I think Lorena hit a wheel in front of her. It happened at very high speed, so I didn't have time to react anymore and flew full over. I got a hard hit on my head, but I'm okay," said Kopecky, who has four top 10s across six stages of the Tour so far.
"I felt quite good today, so I wanted to sprint. Whether that effort affected my sprint, I don't know. The crash gave me an adrenaline shot, which wasn't bad. Plantur-Pura offered me some help to get back, which I thank them for. I knew that there were only two short climbs left. So I fought to get back."
Reusser proved strongest on stage 4 by soloing to victory on the gravel-strewn roads to Bar-sur-Aube. She attacked from the front group between the final two sections of gravel to win the stage.
She now departs the Tour de France Femmes ahead of a weekend of tough climbing, with three teammates in the top 20. Ashleigh Moolman Pasio is fifth overall, 1:05 behind maillot jaune Vos, Demi Vollering is another six second back in sixth overall, while Kopecky is over four minutes down in 17th overall.
"This was a very fast stage, but we stayed together well as a team. Demi Vollering and I are in good shape. We are already looking forward to tomorrow," Moolman-Pasio said in reaction to the team’s situation ahead of the mountains.
