Updated at 10.00pm
POLISH CYCLIST RAFAL Majka will continue at Tirreno-Adriatico despite a major crash with a pedestrian during the opening stage on Wednesday.
Majka — who is team-mates with Irish sprinter Sam Bennett — came into contact with the spectator 3.5 kilometres into the 21.5km time trial on day one in Italy, the Bora-Hansgrohe team unable to avoid the collision at a pedestrian crossing.
Both Majka and Oscar Gatto crashed in the incident but have not needed to abandon the race heading into stage two on Thursday.
“We had an unlucky day, marred by a bad crash,” said team doctor Jan-Niklas Droste. “Oscar Gatto has quite a lot of bruises while Rafal Majka went down hard.
“He [Majka] has hematomas and abrasions on his head and we will have to run additional tests and diagnostics in order to evaluate whether the impact caused a concussion or not.”
Team sports director Enrico Poitschke added: “Unfortunately, we had a very bad day. Just 3.5km into the stage, a spectator crashed into the team, taking down two riders and splitting up the squad.
Bora riders Oscar Gatto and Rafal Majka collided with the pedestrian, who was crossing the course at the time, just 3km into the team's effort. Gatto and Majka managed to finish the stage. #TirrenoAdriatico #BORAhansgrohe #cyclinglifestyle pic.twitter.com/zfvn2Prij0
— Cycling Lifestyle (@CyclingLifesty1) March 13, 2019
“From then on our guys weren’t in the best mood but still gave a fight.
“The good news is that Rafal Majka is set to continue the race. He doesn’t look good after the crash but he will be there.
“Our chances at the GC are probably gone now but we will try to fight for, possibly, a stage win that will keep our spirits high. Still, it was a very bad day for us.”
The pedestrian landed heavily and was taken to hospital for treatment, however is reportedly not in a life-threatening condition.
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