Moolman Pasio requires 60 stitches as training crash puts her out of Strade Bianche

VENTURA CALIFORNIA MAY 16 Ashleigh MoolmanPasio of South Africa and Team CCC Liv competes during the Amgen Tour Of California Womens Race 2019 Stage 1 a 965km stage from Ventura to Ventura AmgenTOCWomen AmgenTOC on May 16 2019 in Ventura California Photo by Sean M HaffeyGetty Images
Ashleigh Moolman Pasio at the 2019 Tour of California (Image credit: Getty Images)

Ashleigh Moolman Pasio (CCC-Liv), Ella Harris (Canyon-SRAM) and Clara Koppenburg (Équipe Paule Ka) have all been forced out of Strade Bianche after suffering crashes in training in the lead-up to the race.

All three women were set to return to Women's WorldTour racing in Tuscany on Saturday, but their teams now start the race one woman short due to their accidents coming so close to the race.

Dani Ostanek
Senior News Writer

Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, joining in 2017 as a freelance contributor and later being hired full-time. Before joining the team, they had written for numerous major publications in the cycling world, including CyclingWeekly and Rouleur.

Dani has reported from the world's top races, including the Tour de France, Road World Championships, and the spring Classics. They have interviewed many of the sport's biggest stars, including Mathieu van der Poel, Demi Vollering, and Remco Evenepoel. Their favourite races are the Giro d'Italia, Strade Bianche and Paris-Roubaix.

Season highlights from the 2024 season include reporting from Paris-Roubaix –  'Unless I'm in an ambulance, I'm finishing this race' – Cyrus Monk, the last man home at Paris-Roubaix – and the Tour de France – 'Disbelief', gratitude, and family – Mark Cavendish celebrates a record-breaking Tour de France sprint win.