Jake Stewart has been ruled out of this year's Tour of Flanders due to a hand fracture caused by the collision between him and former French champion Nacer Bouhanni at the Cholet-Pays de la Loire on Sunday (March 28).
Stewart (Groupama-FDJ) has had an incredible start to his first full season as a WorldTour rider with some top results, including a second place at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad behind the on-form Davide Ballerini (Deceuninck - Quick-Step).
The 21-year-old British rider was down to be one of the protected riders at the Tour of Flanders alongside the likes of French and Swiss champions Arnaud Démare and Stefan Küng but a collision with Bouhanni (Arkéa-Samsic) was enough to end that hope.
A Tweet sent out by Groupama-FDJ said: "Jake Stewart is not able to take part in his 2nd Tour of Flanders on Sunday as he suffers from a fractured left hand due to the collision in the final sprint in Cholet-Pays de la Loire."
The British rider quoted the Tweet soon after, sharing his disappointment to miss his first chance to ride a Monument.
"We thought and was hoping that it was just superficial, but this morning's x-ray showed a fractured second metacarpal after Sunday's Cholet-Pays de la Loire. Gutted to say the least to be missing De Ronde this week, but full focus now for recovering and getting back on the bike."
The collision happened in the closing 200 metres of the race with Elia Viviani (Cofidis) launching his sprint. Stewart had made it onto the Italian's wheel but Bouhanni reacted quickly to try and get into Viviani's slipstream, claiming he did not know Stewart was there.
Bouhanni then said he counterbalanced to avoid falling pushing Stewart towards the barriers, which he amazingly managed to avoid, but the impact was enough to cause the fracture.
The Arkéa-Samsic rider has since apologised through a team press release where he said how he was sorry for what happened but that it was not intentional.
The UCI has called for an investigation into Bouhanni to take place to decide what sanctions are needed to be put on the rider.
This comes after a lot of focus has been put on how sprints take place due to the awful crash between Fabio Jakobsen (Deceuninck - Quick-Step) and Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma) with the latter getting a nine-month suspension from racing.
Thank you for reading 5 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Enjoy your first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
*Read 5 free articles per month without a subscription
Join now for unlimited access
Try first month for just £1 / $1 / €1
-
'Just perfect' — Arnaud Démare on a roll at the Giro d'Italia with two wins in a rowFrench sprinter triumphs for second day running on stage six
-
From the cobbles to the race track: Tom Boonen is living his best life
Classic legend Tom Boonen on race car driving, Mathieu van der Poel and modern cycling
-
'An unforgettable day' — Thibaut Pinot back winning after 1,007 days
The Frenchman won stage five of the Tour of the Alps to end his drought
-
'I could have turned that s***ty page' — Thibaut Pinot emotional after missing out on first win in three years
Frenchman beaten by Miguel Àngel Lòpez at Tour of the Alps after being caught in final kilometre
-
Tadej Pogačar apologised to Dylan van Baarle after Tour of Flanders frustration
Video shows Slovenian angry at Dutchman following Sunday's sprint
-
The day the crowds returned: From viking horns to the smell of beer at the Tour of Flanders
Crowds packed the start, the finish, and every key climb to catch a glimpse of the Ronde
-
'I hope this will get a lot of young riders on their bikes' — Lotte Kopecky on her huge Tour of Flanders win
Belgian champion hopes to drive girls to cycling with victory
-
Five talking points from the Tour of Flanders 2022
The key talking points from a thrilling day of racing in Flanders
