Remco Evenepoel in 'a lot of pain' after crashes, 'difficult day' ahead at Giro d'Italia, says team doctor

ByJames Walker-Roberts

Updated 11/05/2023 at 09:29 GMT

Remco Evenepoel's hopes of winning the 2023 Giro d'Italia appear to have suffered a blow after he crashed twice on Stage 5 of the race. Soudal Quick-Step doctor Toon Cruyt has said that Evenepoel, 23, is in a "lot of pain" after the stage and will hope to be recovered after a massage and good night's rest. Evenepoel is one of the favourites to win the Giro.

Remco Evenepoel is in a “lot of pain” following two crashes on a rain-soaked Stage 5 of the Giro d’Italia and faces a “difficult day” tomorrow, according to Soudal Quick-Step doctor Toon Cruyt.

Vuelta a Espana champion Evenepoel is one of the favourites to win the Giro and wore the pink leader’s jersey until the end of Stage 4.

But his hopes took a hit as he fell twice on Stage 5, firstly when a dog ran into the road and then again just 2.5km from the finish.

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Evenepoel finished the stage and didn’t lose any time on his GC rivals to stay in second place.

However, the injuries suffered from the crashes sound like they could take their toll on the 23-year-old.

“From the first crash it was quite OK with the dog, not too bad, but the second crash he has a lot of pain on his right side,” explained Soudal Quick-Step doctor Cruyt.

“He has a big hematoma, a contraction of his muscles there and problems with his sacrum bone, but hopefully with a good massage and osteopathic treatment and good night of rest it will go better. We will see tomorrow morning.

“It will take a few days before the hematoma goes away but we hope the muscle contraction is going away faster. We will see tomorrow. Tomorrow he will have a difficult day.”

Stage 6 starts and finishes in Naples, with the peloton set to skirt around Mount Vesuvius and visit the Amalfi coast.

• Drama on Stage 5 as Evenepoel and Cavendish crash
• Cavendish praised for bike skills despite crash

More challenging looks to be Stage 7 on Friday, which features plenty of climbing and a summit finish.

Evenepoel might already be looking ahead to the first rest day on Monday, May 15.

Mark Cavendish (Astana-Qazaqstan) also crashed as he sprinted for victory and ended up sliding across the line.

'Evenepoel is down!' - Shocking moment dog causes crash at Giro

Cavendish was in the mix for a long overdue victory when he brushed shoulders with Alberto Dainese (DSM) on the slippery surface, causing him to lose balance, lurch across the road, nudge a rider from Green Project Bardiani in the barriers, and finally hit the tarmac.

“I’ve had my wounds cleared up, my knee’s a little bit sore, but I don’t think there’s anything broken, I don’t have the pain of anything broken, only my morale a little bit.

“I was in a perfect position, kick for the sprint, back wheel on the white line, when I kick it slides the wheel and that’s it.

“It’s sprinting, Alberto has called me, but that’s part of sprinting. I just hope everybody else who crashed is OK too. We try again and congratulations to Kaden Groves too.”

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Stream the 2023 Giro d'Italia live and on-demand on discovery+ and eurosport.co.uk

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