The final stage of the Tour de Romandie Féminin saw escapees Riejanne Markus (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Niamh Fisher-Black (SD Worx-Protime) sprint for the stage win, but instead of a reduced bunch sprint for third place, only five riders came into view of the finish cameras, with more riders finishing in small groups or alone: A crash in the final roundabout, just under 400 metres from the line, had fractured the peloton.
The four puddles at the entrance to the roundabout, two of them directly in the ideal racing line, were no problem for Markus and Fisher-Black, but when the 27-rider peloton followed at high speed, a touch of wheels led to ten riders going down.
Cédrine Kerbaol (Ceratizit-WNT) stayed on the ground the longest, lying in recovery position while being checked over by a race marshal and her teammate Alice Maria Arzuffi. Demi Vollering (SD Worx-Protime) and Chloé Dygert (Canyon-SRAM) also wisely took a bit of time before getting back on their bikes to finish the race.
Dygert’s teammates Élise Chabbey and Antonia Niedermaier crashed as well but were quickly back up. The same was true for Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio (AG Insurance-Soudal), Erica Magnaldi (UAE Team ADQ), Nienke Vinke (DSM-Firmenich PostNL), and Gaia Realini (Lidl-Trek).
As the crash occurred in the last 3km, all 27 riders received the time of third-placed Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-Protime) who finished 21 seconds behind stage winner Markus, meaning that the final GC was unaffected.
Even more importantly, it seems as if none of the crashed riders suffered serious injuries. Ceratizit-WNT confirmed to Cyclingnews that Kerbaol and Arzuffi had only received abrasions. SD Worx-Protime said the same about Vollering who was checked by the race doctor but will undergo another examination on Monday.
AG Insurance-Soudal told I that Moolman-Pasio also suffered road rash but no serious injuries; the same is true for Canyon-SRAM’s riders, Dygert, Chabbey, and Niedermaier who will also undergo a more detailed examination. Their respective teams confirmed that Magnaldi, Realini, and Vinke also escaped without major injuries, only suffering abrasions.
