In the press room in city hall in Salerno on Wednesday afternoon, a table of Belgian journalists sat watching footage of Remco Evenepoel’s first crash on stage 5 of the Giro d’Italia with the kind of rapt attention the Warren Commission gave to the Zapruder film.
Again and again, they watched the images of the errant dog sallying obliviously into the peloton and bringing down Evenepoel’s teammate Davide Ballerini, with the world champion falling moments later. Back and to the left.
For much of a sodden afternoon, that canine encounter looked set to be the story of the day, given that the peloton had effectively called a truce once Evenepoel had remounted and latched back on. For the bones of 100km beneath driving rain, the bunch would chase the day’s early escapees at a sensibly measured pace.
Down at the finish on Salerno’s seafront, television reporters were already instructing their camera operators to track Evenepoel’s every move on crossing the line when their attention was hurriedly called to events still unfolding out on the road. Their voice-overs would need some rewriting.
With 7km remaining, a mass crash saw maglia rosa Andreas Leknessund (DSM) and Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) among those involved, with both men forced into the frantic pursuit of the small leading group that was being led by Evenepoel’s Soudal-QuickStep guard. For a few dizzying kilometres before the race was stitched unevenly back together, it even looked as though Evenepoel might retake the pink jersey.
Once the front group passed safely through the 3km to go banner, it seemed as though the day’s drama had abated, but the Giro hadn’t stopped Giro-ing. It never does. Moments later, Evenepoel was sprawled on the tarmac after a crash involving half a dozen or so riders.
The extent of his injuries was unclear, but his rage was evident when he stood gingerly to his feet and began exasperatedly calling for a replacement bike. A fresh steed was eventually procured, and Evenepoel began soft-pedalling towards the finish.
By then, the reporters had spilled out into the road past the line, waiting for Evenepoel’s arrival. Many of them didn’t even see the bunch sprint that saw Mark Cavendish fall in the finishing straight after tangling with Alberto Dainese, who was later disqualified. Kaden Groves’ eventual stage victory was already doomed to be relegated to a mere detail.
The Giro gruppo drifted through the finish area in ones and twos, while reporters scanned the haunted faces. It was a…
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