🎥 Riders crash hard into unprotected median strip in UAE Tour: De Kleijn and Froome suffer fractures, Visma waits for exact diagnosis

A nasty crash disrupted the final stage of the UAE Tour. In the opening phase, the peloton approached an unprotected median strip, where several riders crashed face-first. This caused significant injuries to several riders, who were forced to abandon the seventh stage of the WorldTour race. It is the next in a series of safety incidents in a short period.

It was a nervous opening phase. An early breakaway had formed, including Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) and Alexey Lutsenko (Israel - Premier Tech), who chose to make it a long day. Behind them, more riders wanted to join the breakaway. However, things went wrong in the streets of Abu Dhabi: suddenly, a solid median strip appeared. The front riders could steer around it, but the riders in the middle of the peloton had no chance. They crashed hard into the curb and lost control of their bikes.

Josh Tarling, the number two in the GC and wearer of the white youth jersey, was involved in the nasty crash. The Brit from INEOS Grenadiers stood there with a pained look on his face but could get back on his bike after shaking his injured arm. This was not true for Chris Froome, Niklas Behrens, and Arvid de Kleijn. The Brit from Israel - Premier Tech and the German from Visma | Lease a Bike both felt their shoulders: a collarbone injury does not seem unlikely. Torstein Traeen (Bahrain Victorious) was also unable to continue.

Read more below the video.

New incident in series of crashes

De Kleijn had already had an unsuccessful race; his best result in the bunch sprints was eleventh place. Like Froome and Behrens, the Tudor Pro Cycling sprinter had to abandon the race. He also hit the asphalt hard in the opening stage of the AlUla Tour. In the afternoon, the verdict was known for De Kleijn and Froome: broken collarbone. Behrens is still waiting for the exact diagnosis.

This is not the first incident. Froome's teammate Pascal Ackermann crashed hard in the Tour de la Provence after hitting a speed bump in the final stretch. In the Trofeo Andratx—Pollenca, the riders refused to continue after several crashes in the rainy opening stage.  

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