Sunday 23 May 2021
Off with facial injuries
Giro ends in a mass crash for Buchmann
Emanuel Buchmann is driving a strong Giro d’Italia, the German has a good chance of creating a historic achievement – and then a heavy fall stops him. A great tour ends for Buchmann on the asphalt.
The German cycling hope Emanuel Buchmann had to give up at the 104th Giro d’Italia after being involved in a mass fall. At the beginning of the 15th stage from Grado to Gorizia, the sixth overall was involved in a crash on a straight track at high speed and suffered injuries to the face. The race was stopped after the fall, and Buchmann’s team Bora-hansgrohe announced the captain’s abandonment a little later.
TV pictures previously showed Buchmann standing upright on a guardrail after the accident, while doctors treated the wounds on his face. A few other drivers suffered at least abrasions. The Eritrean Natnael Berhane (Cofidis), the Dutch Jos van Emden (Jumbo – Visma) and a little later the Portuguese Ruben Guerreiro (EF Education – Nippo), currently 15th in the overall standings, also had to give up the race.
The podium was in sight
European champion Giacomo Nizzolo also left the Tour of Italy prematurely just two days after his first stage win at the Giro d’Italia. The Italian made the decision together with his Qhubeka team to “relax and then focus on the goals ahead”. The cycling stable announced on Sunday.
The victory on Friday in the mass sprint on stage 13 from Ravenna to Verona was “a dream that has come true,” said Nizzolo: “I’ll carry that with me for the rest of my life. I started the Giro with a focus on the sprints , but the climbs have taken their toll. ” The 32-year-old had already finished stages two and five in second place.
Buchmann had renounced the Tour de France this year in favor of the Giro. After strong performances in the mountains, the Ravensburger was in sixth place, 2:36 minutes behind the leader, Egan Bernal. Buchmann wanted to be the first German to finish on the podium of the second most important tour, his gap to third place and the Italian Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious) had been 45 seconds before the start on Sunday (23.05.2021). There are three more mountain stages and an individual time trial on the final day before the Giro final in Milan next Sunday.
.