Marijn van den Berg misses golden opportunity, and ends day with X-rays: "Hip and calf causing trouble"

“Sh*t,” was Van den Berg's response to the NOS after the finish when asked how he felt. “I was really feeling good and was just moving up to sprint for a nice top five or so. It's extremely disappointing that I crashed hard, and I'm really feeling the impact on my hip and the chainring in my calf. We're going to get some X-rays, so we'll see how it goes.”

The crash occurred on the right side of the road, involving a group of approximately forty riders. “They were braking right in front of me, and you're close to the wheel, of course. They swerved a bit and then hit my wheel, although I still need to see it again. It's just awful,” complained Van den Berg, who at least did not suffer any fractures, according to his American employer. "After a night of rest, Marijn and our medical team will decide whether he will be able to start stage 2 tomorrow..”

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The crash was unfortunate because there weren't many really fast sprinters left in the first group. Van den Berg was already dreaming a little. “The goal was to get here in a small group because that suits me best. I'm not really a mass sprinter, but I'm fast in a small group. Then I could have competed for a good place, I think.”

Van den Berg and O'Connor were both given the time of the first group because the crash happened in the last five kilometers. That was excellent news for O'Connor because the Australian is chasing a good General Classification. For Van den Berg, it remains to be seen what the damage is. On day 1, Filippo Ganna and Stefan Bissegger had already abandoned the race after crashing.