06.10.2020
15:08
The wind generated by the aircraft caused the security fences to fall on the route. Another competitor suffered minor injuries
October 6, 2020 Share on FacebookShare Share on TwitterTweet Share on WhatsAppShareAccident in the Giro d’Italia
Two cyclists from the Vini Zabu team, the Italian Luca Wackermann and the Dutchman Etienne van Empel , were injured by safety barriers that apparently blew up as a result of a very low-flying television helicopter on stage 4 of the Giro d’ Italia .
Wackermann , who sustained the most serious injuries, was left unconscious on the road before being transferred to a hospital. His team’s sporting director, Francesco Frassi, later offered reassuring news about the runner’s state of health: “He has regained consciousness in the ambulance. He doesn’t remember anything. ” However, due to the injuries, he will not continue competing, according to the team.
For his part, Van Empel assured that he suffered injuries to his fingers: “They are only small cuts”, and acknowledged that he cannot explain “really what happened”.
Neither of the two competitors was able to cross the finish line, but the regulations state that they would be credited with the same time as the group in which they were traveling when the accident occurred, less than three kilometers to the finish in Villafranca Tirrena.
Arnaud Démare won the sprint ahead of Sagan and Almeida (EFE)
The one who celebrated in the first sprint was Arnaud Démare (Groupama-FDJ) when he conquered in a very tight way, this Tuesday in Villafranca Tirrena, Sicily, the 4th stage of the Giro d’ Italia. “It’s great, luck is with me”, celebrated who beat the Slovakian Peter Sagan by millimeters .
“Even at home I train by launching the bike,” smiled the French champion, who fulfilled his first Giro appointment, the first massive sprint of the event, after being forced to brake violently with two kilometers to go by a dog on the edge of the road.
This Tuesday is his second victory in the competition, after the one achieved last year in Modena (center-north) in the 10th stage. Since the competitions returned at the end of July, the 29-year-old Frenchman has had several victories, especially the Italian semi-classic Milan-Turin and the French championship.
Absent from the Tour de France , given that his team opted for Thibaut Pinot, Démare concentrated on the Italian race , his great goal of the season, with the support of his usual teammates (Konovalovas, Scotson, Sinkeldam, Guarnieri).
The stage held this Tuesday was 140 kilometers (AFP)
This 140 kilometer stage, the shortest of this edition without counting the time trials, marks the end of the Sicilian days, which have undoubtedly influenced the general classification, led since Monday by Joao Almeida. This Tuesday, the young Portuguese team Deceuninck pocketed even two bonus seconds in an intermediate sprint to take the Ecuadorian Jonathan Caicedo (EF) away to … two seconds.
The day after his crash at Enna, caused by a loose jerrycan on the road, Geraint Thomas withdrew from the Giro before the start of the Catania stage. The examinations carried out on Tuesday revealed “a small non-displaced fracture in the lower part of the pelvis,” according to Dr. Phil Riley, a doctor for the British team.
The curse of the Ineos team in 2020 continues its course. After the abandonment of Colombian Egan Bernal in the Tour de France , Thomas’ farewell leads to the head of the British team, the most powerful and wealthy of the peloton, now limited to looking for stage victories.
On Wednesday, in the first stage over mainland Italy, the Giro crosses the southern region of Calabria in stage 5, 225 kilometers between Mileto and Camigliatello Silano.
With information from AFP
