No Amstel Gold Race on Sunday for Tom Pidcock, but he will race the Tour of the Alps on Monday

The Amstel Gold Race had already been dealing with several withdrawals in recent weeks, and the latest start list update on Friday brought a few more notable absentees. Ben Healy of EF Education-EasyPost has been found to have fractured his sacrum during the Tour of the Basque Country, while Tom Pidcock of Pinarello-Q36.5 and Christian Scaroni of XDS-Astana are also no longer listed for the Dutch classic.

Pidcock suffered a knee injury (bone contusions and damage to the knee ligaments) in a serious crash during the Tour of Catalonia, and it was immediately clear that competing in the hill classics would be a race against time. After the Brit was already withdrawn from the Brabantse Pijl ahead of Friday, he is also out of the Amstel and Waalse Pijl.

Instead, the Briton will ride the Tour of the Alps, which begins Monday in Innsbruck. During that five-day race, it will be determined whether Pidcock—and specifically his knee—is in good enough shape to ride Liège–Bastogne–Liège next Sunday.

EF Education-EasyPost have now confirmed Healy’s withdrawal. The Irishman, who finished third last year in both Liège-Bastogne-Liège and the World Championships, will also miss La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège because of the injury. Healy called the setback “gutting” and said he now has to “roll with the punches,” while admitting it will be painful to watch the Ardennes races from the outside.

"Healy crashed during his reconnaissance ride for the opening time trial of the Tour of the Basque Country. The pain from his fall subsided, and Ben decided, after consulting with our medical team, to continue the race. Throughout the entire stage in Itzulia, his injury was monitored by our doctors. Although he experienced some stiffness, Ben’s pain continued to subside,” his team said.

'However, after the race, the pain flared up again, prompting our medical team and Ben to decide to have an MRI scan done to check for a deeper injury. The scans revealed a small, non-displaced fracture in the middle of the sacrum, which does not require surgery but will keep Ben out of competition for 3 to 4 weeks.'

Healy himself explained that during the Tour of the Basque Country, he thought things were improving as the race went on and that the damage was not too serious. Only once he returned home did the pain become more of a problem. Since coming back from Itzulia, he has not been able to ride, which made it necessary to investigate the source of the discomfort and eventually led to the scan.

The EF rider also offered some cautious optimism about the road back. He described the fractured bone as “pretty insignificant,” adding that once the pain is gone, he should be able to ride the way he wants again. The main concern is the pain itself and the risk of creating a secondary injury by trying to compensate. If recovery goes to plan, Healy hopes to return in time for the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and the Tour de France, although he stressed that he first has to see how the healing process develops.