Remco Evenepoel crashed twice during Stage 5 of the Tour of Italy 2023 on Wednesday, but it wasn’t the slippery conditions that brought down the race favorite the first time around.
The 23-year-old Quick-Step cyclist from Soudal had already covered 152km during the 171km race when a dog on a sidewalk appeared to run into the street as the peloton passed.
Belgian Quick Step cyclist Remco Evenepoel (foreground) after crashing during the fifth stage of the 2023 Giro d’Italia cycling race, 171km between Atripalda and Salerno, on May 10, 2023. (Luca Bettini/AFP via Getty Images)
Video showed the animal making a beeline for the herd, forcing Evenepoel to the ground. His teammate Davide Ballerini also fell as a result of the accident.
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According to Reuters, Evenepoel was back in the race just two minutes later and collided again with several other riders in the final sprint with less than 2 kilometers to go.
«He has a lot of pain on the right side and a bruise with contraction of the muscles and some problems in the sacrum,» said Soudal Quick-Step team doctor Toon Cruyt. «Hopefully, with a good massage and osteopathic treatment followed by a good night’s rest, things will improve.»
Belgian Quick Step cyclist Remco Evenepoel crashes during the fifth stage of the 2023 Giro d’Italia cycling race on May 10, 2023. (Luca Bettiini/AFP via Getty Images)
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«After a rainy day comes a sunny day,» Evenepoel wrote in a Twitter update on Thursday.
«Yesterday was difficult, but after a good night and great attention from the staff, the feeling today has been good and I’m looking forward to the next few days. Thanks to the team for always doing everything possible to get me safely to the finish line.»
The group of cyclists ride the Valico di Chiunzi in the sixth stage of the Giro d’Italia 2023 cycling race, 162 km between Naples and Naples, on May 11, 2023. (Luca Bettini/AFP via Getty Images)
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Danish cyclist Mads Pedersen, 27, rose to the top on Thursday to win Stage 6. He has now won stages in all three Grand Tours.
The Giro ends in Rome on May 28.
Associated Press contributed to this report.