Australian rider Jonathan Cantwell’s aim of riding this year’s Paris-Roubaix has been deemed impossible, with a bizarre crash at the end of yesterday’s Scheldeprijs ruling him out of Sunday’s Classic.
Cantwell crashed after the finish of the race, being one of several riders who slid on the wet road surface. He landed heavily and lay on his side for several minutes after the finish.
“Johnny had a very unfortunate fall but after having rested in the bus we thought he was ok," said directeur sportif Nick Gates. "But as he started complaining about increasing chest pain we called for an ambulance that brought him to the hospital, where they reported that his lung had collapsed. Luckily, there are no fractures and under the circumstances he feels ok. However he has to take a break from training and racing for an unknown period of time. A very unfortunate outcome as he was in great shape."
Sporten states that Lucas Sebastian Haedo will be his replacement in Paris-Roubaix.
Thirty year old Cantwell showed good form last month when he won two stages in the Tour of Taiwan, the Saxo Bank team’s only victories to date this year. He was fourteenth in yesterday’s sprint behind the winner Marcel Kittel (Argos-Shimano). After next Sunday's race, he was scheduled to ride the GP Denain and the Tour of Turkey.
The same accident saw Rouleur photographer Taz Darling hit by one or more riders. According to road.cc, she has injuries to her orbital bone, collarbone and spleen. She underwent an operation earlier today.