But the price he paid was steep. When he got to his feet, his cycling kit was in tatters, and he had road rash in multiple places. His entire right forearm, which had hit the ground first, was scraped raw by the asphalt, leaving a series of bloody gashes from which blood began to ooze.
As for his road bike, it was a horrible sight.
Having been tossed aside, it was sent flying more than ten meters away, its water bottle long gone, who knew where.
"Oh! Damn it!!
There's a massive crash in the peloton!!!
The one thing we never want to see, and it's happened on this wide, downhill corner!!"
Steve, the host of the Eurosport cycling channel, couldn't help but cry out in alarm as he watched the massive crash on the live broadcast:
"The riders caught up in this include not only the title favorite from Visma Team, Van Aert, but also Jasper Stuyven from the Trek Team, and the lead sprinter for the Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux Team: Biniam Girmay.
