Britain’s Adam Yates lost nearly 14 minutes to rivals on stage two of the Giro d’Italia following a huge crash on a wet descent involving about 20 riders – which saw two of his team-mates hospitalised.
The UAE-Team Emirates rider, 33, is a contender for winning the overall pink jersey, but was bloodied and covered in mud having hit an Armco barrier at speed.
Yates will be assessed by team medical staff before confirming if he will continue in the race, but his dream of emulating twin brother Simon’s phenomenal overall win in this race last year are all but over.
The 221km stage to Veliko Tarnovo – the second of three being held in Bulgaria as part of the three-week race’s Grande Partenza – was won in a sprint from a reduced group by Uruguay’s Guillermo Thomas Silva of XDS-Astana, ahead of Germany’s Florian Stork of Tudor Pro-cycling and Italy’s Giulio Ciccone of Lidl-Trek.
Yates’ team-mates, Jay Vine of Australia and Marc Soler of Spain, abandoned the race after the crash and have both been taken to hospital, UAE team boss Mauro Gianetti told TNT Sports.
The peloton of about 183 riders approached the right-hand, downhill corner at about 60km/h.
Soler was the first rider to go down after both his wheels slid out on the wet corner, causing a huge pile-up, which also saw Britain’s Jake Stewart of NSN Cycling crash.
Several riders suffered severe skin burn and ripped Lycra in the impact, after which the race was neutralised for several kilometres.
Recent years have seen similar accidents at the Giro, as spring rain affects riders under pressure to not lose time in difficult conditions.
The hot favourite for the overall pink jersey, Jonas Vingegaard, avoided the crash with 21km to go and formed part of a small breakaway group, which led much of the latter stages.
He eventually finished 21st with the same time after a larger chasing group caught him in the final few metres.