Elena Cecchini has crashed out of the OVO Energy Women’s Tour after a crash-marred stage three yesterday. The 145km stage from Henley-on-Thames to Blenheim Palace was a home stage for Hannah and Alice Barnes who both crashed in an earlier incident.

Cecchini crashed in the final 4km of the race, as her CANYON//SRAM Racing teammates prepared the lead out for the sprint finish. The Italian rider suffered a dislocated and fractured right wrist in the crash.

“Overall it was a crazy stage yesterday,” said Cecchini.

“I was on the wheel of Tiffany (Cromwell) and things were getting hectic as the peloton was preparing for the sprint. I got squeezed on the left from another rider and then crashed out to the right side of the road. I knew immediately that it wasn’t good and my wrist was broken.”

Cecchini had treatment in John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford last night to relocate her wrist and will fly today to BG Klinikum Hamburg in Germany for surgery.

Earlier in the stage, Cecchini went down in a larger crash that caused the race to be stopped for several minutes while riders were treated and another ambulance re-joined the race. Hannah Barnes and Alice Barnes also went down in the same crash.

“That was a really awful experience,” said Hannah Barnes.

“I saw the crash happen and I was actually confident that I was going to be able to stop in time. But then there were riders coming from behind much faster and hit me. I was on the bottom of the crash pile for a long time until riders and bikes could be taken off me. Riders were screaming, it was awful.”

“After the race I went to hospital for a precautionary X-ray of my elbow but it’s only swelling and soft tissue damage,” added Hannah Barnes.

The stage was won by Jolien D’hoore (DLT) in a bunch sprint, with Lisa Brennauer (WNT) taking over the leader’s jersey after the tour leader Marianne Vos (CCC) was herself forced to withdraw after injuries suffered in the large crash mid-race.

Stage four today is the longest of the tour, 158.9km from Warwick to Burton Dassett Country Park and starts at 10:30BST.

Thursday 13 June | Stage 4 | 158.9km | Warwick – Burton Dassett | 10:30BST

Friday 14 June | Stage 5 | 140km | Llandrindod Wells – Builth Wells | 10:30BST 

Saturday 15 June | Stage 6 | 125.9km | Carmathen – Pembrey Country Park | 10:00BST  

The race is sponsored by Terrano Systems, as the Official Cycling Communication System Partner, and can be followed on Twitter with #UCIWWT and #OVOWT.

Daily highlights will be broadcast on free-to-air television and in more than 100 countries. Each evening at 20:00BST highlights will be on ITV4  in the UK.

International viewers will be able to watch the 2019 OVO Energy Women’s Tour on the following networks:

• Eurosport – Europe, Asia, Oceania  Europe, Asia
• fuboTV – USA and Canada  
• Flosports – USA and Canada 
• SuperSport – sub-Saharan Africa 
• Sky – New Zealand 

CANYON//SRAM Racing is seen using a special edition design, based on the Rapha Women’s 100, across it’s equipment and kit throughout the OVO Energy Women’s Tour.

About the Rapha Women’s 100: The Rapha Women’s 100 is an annual one day event designed to inspire more women to ride! Hosted globally at Rapha Clubhouses and by cycling clubs and by individuals alike, last year 10,000 women around the world rode 100km on the same day. Rapha encourages all female cyclists to join the global community and set up Women’s 100 independent rides locally. Rapha Clubhouses will host official rides led by Rapha ride leaders around the world which will be available to sign up on rapha.cc/womens100 on June 15th, the same day the kit will be available to purchase.

From its Koblenz home in Germany, Canyon Bicycles will also organise Women’s 100 rides on September 14th. To support the kit changeout at the OVO Women’s Tour, Canyon produced a special edition team bike inspired by the Women’s 100 colours. Learn more at www.canyon.com

Facebook

Twitter