🎥 Total chaos at Antwerp Port Epic: Spectacular crash for Del Grosso, race neutralized after peloton takes wrong turn

The first crash of the day was for Sam Welsford. The Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe sprinter hit the ground hard and was unable to continue. He was taken away by ambulance. Later, Arnaud De Lie also crashed, after which the Belgian from Lotto had to throw in the towel. It looked like he had broken his elbow. Timo de Jong also crashed during the four-man early breakaway, and the Dutchman from VolkerWessels dropped out of the leading group.

The most remarkable moment was yet to come. A little later in the race, we suddenly saw almost the entire peloton turn left. That was strange, as the riders were supposed to go straight ahead. Several riders quickly realized this and turned back, but the organization was forced to neutralize the race. The race continued after everyone was back on the right track.

That was not the end of the story. Roel van Sintmaartensdijk was the next rider to hit the ground, but fortunately, the Dutchman from Intermarché-Wanty was able to continue quickly. Not much later, Tibor Del Grosso picked up the pace at the front of the peloton, but the Dutchman paid for it with a crash. The Alpecin-Deceuninck rider lost grip on his front wheel and tried to salvage the situation but ended up in the grass.

Del Grosso picked up his bike from the grass and continued on his way, but not much later, we saw him standing still by the side of the road. Apparently, his wheel had not come out of the crash completely intact, so we saw him change wheels with a teammate. After that, the Dutchman rejoined the peloton.

At 38 kilometers from the finish, the next rider was on the ground. Arne Marit and a rider from Flanders Baloise had crashed. The Belgian from Intermarché-Wanty got back up and was able to continue, after which we saw Florian Sénéchal quickly change bikes with teammate Léandre Lozouet.

Timo Kielich broke open the final with an attack just over thirty kilometers from the finish. He stayed ahead for a long time, after which the Belgian from Alpecin-Deceuninck was joined in the last ten kilometers by Rasmus Bøgh Wallin (Uno-X). The pair stayed just ahead of the peloton, which had picked up speed, with Kielich beating his Danish rival in a thrilling sprint. This meant that Alpecin-Deceuninck had a good day after Del Grosso's crash, as the Belgian team secured its ninth victory of the year.