🎥 Ganna ordered to stop after heavy crash in Tour de France, also DNF for Bissegger

The first accident of the Tour de France happened after about 50 kilometers of racing. In a right-hand corner, Flynn and Ganna crashed out of sight. The American from Picnic PostNL had to walk to his bike, while the Italian from INEOS Grenadiers remained on the ground for a while. He appeared to be in considerable pain. He seemed to be suffering from back pain and had to rest for a while on the hood of his team car.

Ganna was eventually able to get back on his bike, but by then, he was already more than two minutes behind the peloton. He also needed to change his shoe, which he did while cycling under the jury's watchful eye. The Italian managed to return to the peloton, but only briefly. With around 70 kilometers to go, it was clear that he could not continue. This means Ganna is the first rider to abandon the race.

According to teammate Geraint Thomas, Ganna was ordered to stop after crashing and hitting his head, as reported by Eurosport. Sport director Zak Dempster said: "At first it was fine, but Filippo quickly showed symptoms of a concussion. After that, there was no doubt that he had to be taken out of the race. We had expected this kind of chaos, and that's what happened."

Bissegger was involved in this second crash. He had crashed in a right-hand bend and was looking dazed. He remained sitting on the curb and gestured to the back of his head: he had suffered a whiplash, so he needed to be checked for a concussion. When we later saw Thibau Nys riding behind the peloton, it was reported that the young Belgian from Lidl-Trek had crashed together with the Swiss rider. He seemed to be less affected.  

About half an hour after Ganna dropped out, the Swiss time trialist also called it quits. Bissegger had had enough and said goodbye to the Tour de France. Not a good day for time trialists...