Favourites put out of contention in major crash at the World Championships women’s road race

A major crash in the elite women’s road race at the World Championships put many of the pre-race favourites out of contention, as a large number of riders hit the deck with around 95km to go.

Among those to go down was the reigning champion Magdeleine Vallières (Canada), who had hoped to try and defend her title on home soil after her victory in Kigali last year, but had those aims dashed by the crash and was ultimately forced to abandon at the end of the third lap.

Meanwhile, last year’s U23 world champion Paula Blasi (Spain) also found herself on the ground for the second time in the race after having already taken a tumble with 111km to go, and she abandoned the race shortly afterwards.

Those worst affected by the crash were Caroline Andersson (Sweden) and Lauretta Hanson (Australian), as they were both taken to hospital immediately after the crash, with the latter seen being stretchered into an ambulance by paramedics. Both riders were confirmed to be conscious.

Niamh Fisher-Black (New Zealand), Sigrid Ytterhus Haugset (Norway), Flora Perkins (Great Britain) and Christina Schweinberger (Austria) were also among those to abandon the race as a result of the crash.

Kim Le Court (Mauritius) also had her hopes of a rainbow jersey go up in smoke, as she was caught behind a split caused by the crash, as several riders attempted to chase back on to the main group, whilst the favourites’ teams continued to push on.