Tour de France ended badly with brutal crash, will Pogacar lose an important domestique just like Evenepoel?

It went wrong in the run-up to the final ascent of the Mûr-de-Bretagne. After the first climb, the group had already been whittled down to about forty riders. Despite that, disaster struck on a downhill section around six kilometers from the finish. At the back of the group, it appeared to be Almeida who went down first after Haig seemed to touch his wheel. Several riders were then brought down in the ensuing pile-up, with those behind unable to avoid the chaos.

The camera motorbike was right on top of the crash when it happened, so viewers heard the crashing carbon and groaning riders up close. Haig was in the worst shape. The 31-year-old Australian had to abandon in both 2021 and 2022 (then as Bahrain’s GC leader) after crashes, and now he had to pull out again. Although he initially got back on his feet, he soon sat back down, marking the end of his Tour.

Stage seven towards the Mûr de Bretagne had been relatively calm for a long time, with a classic breakaway of five riders and the peloton keeping things tightly under control. However, Soudal-Quick Step did see a rider abandon earlier in the stage: Mattia Cattaneo, Remco Evenepoel’s key climbing domestique, couldn’t continue after a hard crash earlier this week. “He’s my most important bodyguard for the entire Tour,” the Belgian leader had yelled out at the time.

Now, Tadej Pogacar might also have to continue without one of his main lieutenants. João Almeida crashed hard in the pile-up and sat in the grass for a long time. The Portuguese rider, with the entire left side of his body badly battered, did manage to finish the stage, but scans will have to determine whether he can continue in the Tour de France. “He’s gone for an X-ray now. I hope he’s okay, because he’s in incredible form and it was a luxury to have him high up in the general classification,” Pogacar said.

The scans revealed quite a bit of damage: a bruised rib, abrasions, and, according to the jury's medical bulletin, an injury to his left finger. "That could be a problem, we'll take it day by day," Almeida himself told The Guardian. Normally, he should be able to start on Saturday.

Alongside Haig’s abandonment, Bahrain Victorious also has concerns over team leader Santiago Buitrago, who finished over 13 minutes behind the stage winner, visibly battered as well. The same was true for Intermarché-Wanty climber Louis Barré, who crossed the finish line despite a gruesome wound to his buttock and thigh. “Warrior,” his team wrote on official channels.

Other riders caught up in the crash? Enric Mas of Movistar and Guillaume Martin of Groupama-FDJ, for example. However, both the Spaniard and the Frenchman managed to get going again fairly quickly, ultimately losing just 51 seconds and 2 minutes 17 seconds respectively. Eddie Dunbar couldn’t avoid the chaos for Jayco-AlUla either. “He was able to continue, but was riding in a lot of pain,” said the team. Mas commented: “We lost some time, but salvaged the day.”

Eddie Dunbar couldn’t avoid the crash on behalf of Jayco-AlUla. “He was able to continue, but he rode with a lot of pain,” said the team. The Irishman has an injury to his left wrist and hand. Sergio Higuita crashed for XDS Astana, and besides the big crash in the finale, Ewan Costiou (Arkéa-B&B Hotels, abrasions and a wound on his left knee) and Laurenz Rex (Intermarché-Wanty, injury to his right finger) were also mentioned in the medical bulletin.