Cycling
Again falls in the Basque Country – Schachmann misses the day’s victory
Maximilian Schachmann narrowly failed to win the stage of the Tour of the Basque Country. photo
© Clara Margais/dpa
On the Tour of the Basque Country there are again injured cyclists one day after the stars suffered serious falls. On the fifth stage, Maximilian Schachmann narrowly missed out on winning the day.
One day after the serious mass fall on the Tour of the Basque Country, the German professional cyclist Maximilian Schachmann came third and narrowly missed out on winning the day on the fifth stage.
However, the 30-year-old from the Bora-Hansgrohe team still has a good chance of overall victory as he is second in the overall standings. After the 175.9 kilometers, the Frenchman Romain Grégoire won in the photo finish on Friday ahead of the Ecuadorian Orluis Aular and Schachmann.
Skjelmose leads the overall standings
There were again falls on the penultimate stage. The Spanish climbing specialist Mikel Landa, like three other professionals, went down in Amorebieta-Etxano about 94 kilometers from the finish. According to his team, Landa suffered a broken collarbone and had to be taken to the hospital.
In the overall standings, Schachmann is only two seconds behind the leading Dane Mattias Skjelmose. The tour ends on Saturday in Eibar. The hardest stage awaits the professionals with three climbs in the first category.
The cycling stars Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel and, among others, the Australian Jay Vine suffered serious injuries in the mass crash on the fourth stage of the tour on Thursday. Schachmann’s teammate Primoz Roglic was also involved in the accident the day before. The overall leader at the time had to retire, but got off lightly. The accident sparked a debate about excessive speeds in the field.