Italian cyclist Debora Silvestri is recovering in hospital after breaking five breaks and fracturing her shoulder in a horrific crash at Milan-San Remo on Saturday.
The Laboral Kutxa rider took evasive action to avoid a pile-up after several riders went down and crashed into a roadside barrier on the descent of the famous Cipressa climb.
But Silvestri came off worse as she went over the barrier and fell several feet down the bank, falling headfirst onto a lower section of road.
Her team said she was conscious as she was taken to hospital and later released a statement saying she was “currently stable”.
They added: “She will remain hospitalised for the next few hours under medical supervision, and further tests will be conducted to assess the extent of the injuries.”
The 27-year-old posted on Instagram later: “Sure not the final I had imagined… I feel quite good, five ribs broken and a micro fracture on shoulder – could be worse.
“Time to recover but no worries, I will come back.”
The incident occurred less than 20km from the end of the 156km course at ‘La Classicissima’, one of cycling’s five Monuments, the most prestigious one-day races.
Two of the race favourites, former Tour de France champion Kasia Niewiadoma Phinney and Kim Le Court Pienaar, last year’s winner at Liege-Bastogne-Liege, went down in the crash.
Niewiadoma Phinney was unable to continue but Le Court Pienaar, who initially remained at the scene to check on her fellow riders, was able to remount and finished 99th.
The race was won by Belgium’s Classics specialist Lotte Kopecky, who edged Switzerland’s Noemi Ruegg and Italian Eleonora Gasparrini in a five-rider sprint, with the latter two rounding out the podium.
The men’s race was won by double world champion Tadej Pogacar, who pipped Britain’s Tom Pidcock by a mere half a wheel at the end of 298km of racing.
Pogacar also went down in a crash which affected multiple top riders, including Wout van Aert, who recovered despite losing time waiting for a bike change to finish third.
