Cyclist Marta Cavalli, one of the favorites of the Tour de France Women, had to give up after being hit by a Tour rider.
Italian Marta Cavalli, one of the favorites of the Tour de France Women until her abandonment on Monday, suffers from a traumatic brain injury after her very violent fall during the second stage which did a lot of damage, announced her team. FDJ Suez.
“We don’t have much news from Marta, she is suffering from a head injury, explained the manager of the French team Stephen Delcourt on arrival in Provins. We remain in contact with the doctor. She is sent to the hospital to carry out a CT scan as a priority.” Runner-up in the Giro of the immense favorite of the Tour, Annemiek van Vleuten, Marta Cavalli was hit at full speed by the Australian champion Nicole Frain, who arrived without braking in a slowdown caused by a fall about 25 kilometers from the arrival
Huge fall in the peloton in this 2nd stage!
Marta Cavalli (2nd in the Giro) and Australian champion Nicole Frain collided violently!▶️ LIVE: https://t.co/kyXpVUzDcu pic.twitter.com/zZvUfaJiFU
— francetvsport (@francetvsport) July 25, 2022
Back in the saddle after long minutes on the ground, she finally gave up. “She suffered a big shock. We didn’t want to take any risks, said Delcourt. She hesitated to continue but the team said no. We don’t want to play with the lives of us runners.” “We are very worried, he added. You saw the very spectacular fall and how dangerous our sport was. We really have to be careful. I am very worried for our sport and for the safety of our runners.”
To the usual nervousness at the start of the Tour, and even more so for this first women’s Big Loop, 33 years after the last under this name, was added on Monday the fear of the wind (gusts at 45 km / h) and of breaks caused by this one.
The falls followed one another in the last thirty kilometers. In addition to Cavalli, the Italian Gaia Masetti also gave up as well as the German Laura Sübelmich, who is undergoing examinations at the hospital to detect possible fractures according to her Plantur-Pura team.
Other falls in the final involved the Frenchwoman Evita Muzic, of the decidedly cursed FDJ-Suez team on Monday with the minute and a half dropped more by Cecilie Utrupp Ludwig. Involved in another, the French Maeva Squiban finished the stage but “could not walk” on arrival, according to her team, Stade Rochelais, and “pass an X-ray”.