Stage six of the Tour de Suisse ended with a massive crash just 50 meters from the finish line taking down the sharp end of the peloton. At the center of the pile-up were HTC-Columbia's Mark Cavendish, Cervelo TestTeam's Heinrich Haussler and Team Miram's Gerald Ciolek. AG2r's Lloyd Mondory looked to take the worst hit of the incident. He flew over the Cervelo rider into the barricades, and initial reports say he may have sustained some broken bones. Spaniards Juan Antonio Flecha (Team Sky) and triple World champion Oscar Freire took impressive evasive action to avoid crashing, and Italian Alessandro Petacchi managed to slip through to the line unscathed for the win.
Sprinting is one of the most dangerous aspects of the sport of cycling as evident from today's incident. From the video (included below), Ciolek led the sprint out and Cavendish and Haussler passed the fading German on either side only to come crashing together. The Manxman had just cleared the Milram rider and was moving to the left as a fast approaching Haussler, who was wearing the jersey of points leader, was looking at a possible second stage win in the race.
Haussler ran right into Cavendish, who wasn't in front of the Cervelo TestTeam rider before he looked down to muster his final dig to the line. Unfortunately, both riders were caught unaware of the other and came tumbling down onto the pavement with several other riders, including Belgian Champion Tom Boonen (Quick Step), running over top of them from behind. The front wheel of the HTC-Columbia rider folded during the mishap when Haussler ran into the back of it as he was pulling up on his left side, leaving no chance for normally agile sprinters to come away unscathed with a mere bump of elbows.
Fortunately for the 25-year-old Cavendish, the HTC-Columbia team doctors said after a first checkup that the worst of his injuries were some severe road rash and major bruising, but he will still undergo x-ray examination as a precautionary measure.
"We rode a good finale - Gerald Ciolek was in an optimal position at the finish," explained Milram sports director Ralf Grabsch after the stage. "It may not have been enough for a victory, but a podium placing was certain. In the end, of course, we are just happy that Gerald wasn't injured. Tomorrow's stage has another category three climb 10 kilometers before the finish, and then there is an ascending finale. We hope we will have our next chance for a top finish there."
Likewise Quick Step's Tom Boonen was happy to have made it out without any major damage. "The consequences of the fall could have been worse," he explained. "Fortunately I realized right off that riders in front of me were falling and I managed to reduce my speed significantly. But a rider hit me from behind and I ended up on the ground, hitting my left knee. The knee hurts a little but tomorrow I will be at the starting line for the stage hoping that the problem doesn't get worse during the race."
Haussler appeared to be okay afterwards, but his team has pulled him from the race to make sure he recovers in time for July. “Heinrich was taken to the hospital for an examination and stitches,” said Team Doctor Lorenz Emmert. “He has a deep wound on his right elbow and will need to rest for a few days now.”
“I didn’t see Cavendish coming,” Haussler said after the crash. “He drove into my wheel and before I knew it, I went down and was lying on the ground. I could have won the stage today.”
All of the key sprinters involved have suffered setbacks from crashes or injury this season, and will now hope to make it safely to the Tour de France next month where they will again do battle.
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Video of the Tour de Suisse stage four crash