Lotto Soudal’s best sprinter Andre Greipel will have to miss the Spring Classics. He got involved in a serious incident that took place at yesterday’s Milan-Sanremo race.
The crash which took place during the last kilometers of the route left the rider with a broken collarbone. The German sprinter is now preparing to undergo a surgery to repair the damage.
“Not the way I wanted to finish my Milan-San Remo,” Greipel said on twitter after the accident took place.
Apparently, the crash was caused by Jasper De Buyst who was taking part on his first Milan-San Remo event. He admitted on Twitter that it was his front wheel the one that slipped away on the descent of the Poggio, leading to the horrifying crash with Greipel.
Unfortunately not the way I wanted to finish my @Milano_Sanremo. 2 crashes and the last one 4 km from the finish let our amazing @Lotto_Soudal teamwork not getting the result we worked for-now off to surgery for my broken collarbone. #illbeback
— Andre Greipel (@AndreGreipel) March 18, 2018
Dangerously off-Camera
Unlike the dramatic incident that Dimension Data’s Mark Cavendish experienced, (he struck a bollard during the last 10km of the race, suffering a broken rib), this crash took place off-camera.
Along with Cavendish, both Anthony Turgis and Guillaume Bonnafond were invloved in the crash which left Turgis with a broken collarbone and Bonnafond with multiple contusions.
The bad luck didn’t stop there. Soon after these incidents, Simon Clarke and Dan McLay crashed on a descent. “Unfortunately I have 3 broken vertebrae from my crash in MSR today. On the bright side, enjoying a pizza in the back of the ambulance,” Clarke states on twitter later that day.