🎥 Dreams shattered: Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek) forced to withdraw from Giro d'Italia, Mads Pedersen suffers knee injury

On a slippery road, Antonio Tiberi was the first to crash on behalf of Bahrain Victorious, and the entire Lidl-Trek team went down with him. Pedersen recovered fairly quickly, while Vacek and Hoole remained lying on the ground for longer. Team leader Ciccone picked up his bike and continued but eventually had to stop due to pain. He was taken to the hospital after the stage.

In the end, the Italian returned to his bike to assess the damage at the finish. Together with his teammates, he finished 16 minutes behind. Hoole gave a brief reaction to Eurosport after the race. "Really bad. Ciccone's GC is gone, and everyone except Carlos Verona has crashed. We rode like crazy, and there were a few slippery corners on cobblestones."

"We had five guys in the top fifteen, and Tiberi slipped away, after which everyone fell," said the Dutchman. "Ciccone was having trouble with his leg. That wasn't very good."

Mads Pedersen, in the points jersey, had to give a flash interview. "Ciccone loses his GC here, and we couldn't compete for the stage win, but cycling is full of ups and downs. That's part of cycling. I'm struggling with my knee myself, but we'll have to see how it develops."

Later that evening, Lidl-Trek announced that, as feared, Ciccone would be unable to continue the Giro. Ultrasound scans revealed that Ciccone had suffered a serious hematoma in the vastus lateralis muscle of his right quadriceps and a minor injury to the fascia. Surgery is unnecessary, but Ciccone must rest for about two weeks.

"I have no words," said the Italian. "I tried to fight to finish the stage because I hoped the hospital checks would show that it wasn't too bad and that I could recover and fight for a stage. But I knew immediately that it was serious because the pain was too bad, and now we know why."

"It hurts to leave the Giro like this, especially with the mountains still to come, the great feeling in the team, and the good position I had in the GC. Now I need time to recover, and we'll see how the rest of the season goes," he concluded.