Tom Pidcock pulled out after crash into ravine: Brit suffers significant damage

A crash in the peloton was reported on the descent of the penultimate climb. TV pictures showed that João Almeida was involved, along with teammate Brandon McNulty and a rider from EF Education-EasyPost. Pidcock, however, was nowhere to be seen afterwards. It later emerged that the Brit had also crashed hard.

Pinarello-Q36.5 first explained the incident in an official team statement. The team said that Pidcock crashed during the day’s stage after an incident on a descent in the final kilometres, adding that he went off the road after misjudging a corner and suffered a significant fall down a ravine.

It was a major crash, but remarkably Pidcock was still able to finish the stage. In its first update, the team said that despite the severity of the fall, he managed to get back to the road, change bikes and continue racing, eventually reaching the finish, while the initial assessments were reassuring and showed no immediate signs of serious injury.

Pidcock then explained in his own words what had happened, using the original English quote from the team statement: “I was drinking on the descent and misjudged a corner. I overshot it and went down the ravine. It was like one of these horror crashes you see, but I am okay. I’ll go for a check, but I think I’m okay. I am lucky I could talk on the radio. I was far from the road and nobody knew I was there. I’m happy I could finish the stage.”

At that point, further medical evaluations were still to follow later in the evening. Those checks ultimately led to a much less positive conclusion.

It soon became clear that the situation was more serious than first hoped. After undergoing further examinations with the team’s medical staff and at hospital, a decision was made not to let Pidcock start again in Catalonia.

Lorenz Emmert, the team’s chief doctor, said in the medical update: “Due to his crash he suffered injuries, most likely bone and ligament damage in particular to his right knee and also right wrist. Unfortunately we had to make the decision to take him out of the race. Further clinical evaluation and imaging will follow in the next days additionally to the already initiated healing process.”

That means Pidcock’s Volta a Catalunya is over. The rider himself said: “We did everything to try to make it to the start but it’s not possible. I fought to finish the stage yesterday to make sure I had the option to continue. Now the focus is on recovery, and I’ll be back.”

When Pidcock will race again remains unclear. His spring programme had been built with the Ardennes Classics as key targets, with Brabantse Pijl, Amstel Gold Race, Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège all on his calendar before this setback.