Several riders were badly injured within the final 60 kilometers of Stage 3 of the Tour de France after two large crashes, and the stage was stopped at the foot of the Côte de Bohissau, 105 kilometers into the 159.5-kilometer race. The pileups included Fabian Cancellara, the bearer of the Maillot Jaune. According to Sky Sports, Tom Dumoulin, Simon Gerrans, William Bonnet and Dmitry Kozonchuk have all abandoned.
Enorme chute dont le maillot jaune @f_cancellara / Big crash including @f_cancellara pic.twitter.com/sRLvNhS7s8
— Le Tour de France (@letour) July 6, 2015
La course est arrêtée pour le moment / The race is neutralised for the moment #TDF2015 pic.twitter.com/loxD8RI8ym
— Le Tour de France (@letour) July 6, 2015
Three riders have reportedly been taken to the hospital. Cancellara was not one of them, but he appeared to be in significant pain as he rode up to the stopped group, wincing and holding his lower back.
The crash was caused by a high pace along narrow roads towards the Côte de Bohissau. The second occurred almost instantly after the first, approximately 500 meters up the road. The stage resumed in neutralized form as soon as race organizers finished sorting out the wreckage, and it remained neutralized until riders were on the other side of the Côte de Bohissau, approximately 50 kilometers from the finish.
The first crash began when Bonnet overlapped wheels with the rider in front of him. The peloton was swift, going roughly 33 or 34 miles per hour. Bonnet went down quickly, taking several riders out with him. The potential for a domino effect was high within a large peloton.
There was no footage of the second crash because cameras were focused on the first incident. Because the crashes occurred so closely to each other, medical teams may have been slow to treat the second group of riders. That, more than anything, may be why the race was suspended, when in the past, the riders have been able to keep on going after big crashes.
The crash in data form may be the best summation of the chaos:
The crash in data - from within @DimensionData truck. Average speed during fall was 42.03 km/h. #TDFdata #TDF2015 pic.twitter.com/wjQcWItIcM
— letourdata (@letourdata) July 6, 2015
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