Stage five of the Critérium du Dauphiné was entirely neutralised with no winner after a huge crash that brought down more than 30 riders, including race leader Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) and Primož Roglič (Bora-Hansgrohe).
The incident also saw the end of the race for Visma-Lease a Bike rider Steven Kruijswijk, who was taken away in an ambulance, while his team-mate Dylan van Baarle was also injured. It was reminiscent of the horror crash at Itzulia Basque Country in April, which also saw a stage end early.
After nearly an hour of waiting around for news about what would happen, the riders slowly rode the final 21 kilometres to the finish at Saint-Priest in what looked to be mostly good spirits.
Both the peloton and the break had struggled with damp roads all day on the 167km parcours between Amplepuis and Saint-Priest, with heavy rain and new, greasy tarmac combining to trip riders up.
Breakaway rider Ådne Holter (Uno-X Mobility) was the first to come down in the slippery bends. That was followed a short while later by a small crash in the bunch, and then, with around 21km to go, a massive crash in the bunch on a straight road.
It appeared to take place when one or more riders lost traction on a stretch of shiny downhill tarmac that afforded those around them no chance to gain any traction under braking.
Many riders ended up in and around a roadside ditch.
The race was neutralised a short while later, before it was eventually declared that there would be no winner – in part because there was no longer enough medical cover to hold the race as it was all occupied treating riders or taking them to hospital.
The day had begun innocuously enough, with a three-man break containing mountains leader Mathis Le Berre (Arkéa-B&B Hotels), Tobias Bayer (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Holter (Uno-X Mobility). But Holter’s crash with 77km to go signified that all might not be well.
The break was reduced to gingerly taking corners, and following a crash on a right-hand bend that brought down around 10 riders with 38km to go, the peloton followed suit.
The bunch were closing in on the break – whose lead had been reduced from four minutes to around 30sec – when a massive crash took place with 21km to go.
While there was no winner of today’s stage, sprint and mountains points gained while the race was underway will still count. The general classification will remain the same. Remco Evenepoel remains in the race lead.
Critérium du Dauphiné general classification after stage five
1. Remco Evenepoel (Bel) Soudal Quick-Step, in 12:27:22
2. Primož Roglič (Slo) Bora-Hansgrohe, +33s
3. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Visma-Lease a Bike, +1:04
4. Derek Gee (Can) Israel-Premier Tech), +1:11
5. Oier Lazkano (Esp) Movistar, +1:21
6. Bruno Armirail (Fra) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, +1:25
7. Neilson Powless (USA) EF Education-EasyPost, at same time
8. Juan Ayuso (Esp) UAE Team Emirates, +1:27
9. Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBr) Lidl-Trek, +1:39
10. Carlos Rodríguez (Esp) Ineos Grenadiers, +1:41
