Italian rider Daniel Oss suffered a broken vertebrae in his neck after a high-speed collision with a spectator, forcing him to withdraw from this year’s Tour de France.
Impressively, the TotalEnergies rider got up after the crash and went on to finish the stage, which spans 11 cobbled areas, many of which are used every spring in Paris-Roubaix. But scans later revealed a fractured cervical vertebrae and the 35-year-old did not race in Thursday’s sixth stage.
Paris-Roubaix’s paving stones are feared by riders, especially those who handle it in the big touring races, who are not necessarily experts.
Spectators on these stages tend to stand at the edge of the grass, with riders trying to occupy the same space to avoid the bumpiest cobbled sections where crashes can occur.
A video recorded on the scene shows Oss riding on the edge of the grass, pinning a spectator who was filming the rider.
The collision sets off a chain reaction in which both spectator and rider go down and collect another rider in the process. Michael Gogl (Alpecin-Deceuninck) suffered a broken clavicle and pelvis.
Oz’s departure deprives three-time world champion Peter Sagan of a major domestic event on this year’s tour.
Jack Hague (Bahrain-Victory) also had to abandon his match after falling on Wednesday, while Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma), one of the pre-tournament favorites, had to reinsert himself after dislocating his shoulder. He stumbled over a bale of hay. Roglic went on to lose more than two minutes in the general classification.
The race will continue on Friday with the first official top spot at La Planche des Belles Filles, where Tadej Pogacar (Emirates Team) won the first of his two tour titles in 2020.
The 23-year-old Slovenian is chasing a hat-trick of titles this year, donning the yellow jersey again after his stage victory on Thursday.