Today’s second stage of Paris-Nice between Montfort l’Amaury and Amilly was peppered with crashes, mostly caused by the peloton spreading across narrow roads due to its slow speed. On incident though, and the only one to cause injury serious enough to make a rider abandon the race, was caused when Saxo Bank-SunGard’s Lucas Haedo was hit from behind by a police motorbike.
The Argentinean sprinter was forced to abandon with a gash to his knee, which was stitched at a local hospital.
“Unfortunately, Sebastian was hit by a police motor bike on its way through the field to lead the pack in the right direction and by accident, he was hit and crashed,” explained Saxo Bank-SunGard sports director, Bradley McGee. “It has been a very nervous day in general with lots of wind and a nervous peloton which kind of make things difficult for both riders and the organizers trying to protect them. Now, we're looking forward to the coming days. Our guys are motivated and in good shape.”
Haedo is reportedly okay, under the circumstances, but very disappointed about the nature of his abandoning the race.