Horrific crash at Tour de France takes out six cyclists

AUSTRALIAN cyclist Simon Gerrans is among six riders who have been forced to quit the Tour de France after a horrific crash.

Laurens ten Dam of the Netherlands, centre, lies on the road after the crash.

AUSTRALIAN cyclist Simon Gerrans is among six riders who have been forced to quit the Tour de France after a horrific crash.

Roughly 100km into the third stage, on a straight road with clear conditions, French rider William Bonnet clipped the wheel of countryman Warren Barguil and fell to the ground, causing a crash that rippled through the peloton and involved about 20 riders.

The incident was so serious that organisers immediately neutralised the race, as medics and team officials tended to the injured.

William Bonnet of France holds his head after the crash.

Bonnet is carried onto a stretcher.

Swiss legend Fabian Cancellara, who led the Tour at the beginning of the stage, was among the victims, suffering two broken vertebrae. Remarkably, he soldiered on to the finish line before X-rays revealed the extent of his injuries.

Gerrans, the leader of the Orica GreenEdge team, is used to pain at the Tour de France. Last year he was taken out by Mark Cavendish on the very first stage. His luck was no better this time.

Laurens Ten Dam of the Netherlands.

“He’s fractured his wrist,” Orica GreenEdge director Matt White told Fox Sports.

“He’s going to need surgery over the next couple of days, and it’s very very disappointing for him.

“It’s very disappointing for anyone to have to pull out of the Tour de France, but he’s had a nightmare of a year with injury.

“Hopefully this is the last of it because he’s had more bad luck this year than I think he’s had his whole career.”

Gerrans’ fellow Australian and Orica teammate Michael Matthews was also affected, coming home last more than 21 minutes after the winner.

Riders piled up alongside the road.

Chaos at the Tour de France.

In addition to Gerrans and Cancellara, Bonnet, South Africa’s Daryl Impey, Tom Dumoulin of the Netherlands and Russian Dmitry Kozontchuk were forced out of the race. The Frenchman was in particularly bad shape, suffering a multi-fragmented fracture of his second cervical vertebra.

“One of the French riders from FDJ is not in a good way,” White said.

“At the moment it looks like he’s in a coma, and fingers crossed that he’s going to recover from that injury because we’re a very close-knit community in cycling.”

That jersey has been torn up terribly.

British rider Chris Froome took the yellow jersey from Cancellara, and is now 36 seconds ahead of Alberto Contador in second place.

But after such a traumatic crash, the standings don’t seem to matter quite as much as usual.

“It was certainly one of the most hectic days I’ve seen, and a lot of guys were involved in that crash,” White said.

“No-one likes to see crashes in general, but it was a high-speed crash and there’s no soft landing at that sort of speed.”

Bonnet, inconsolable, after the crash.

Riders collect themselves after the crash.

Originally published as Horrific crash at Tour de France takes out six cyclists