Martijn Tusveld came off relatively unscathed from the dramatic late crash on stage 2 of the Giro d'Italia, but his bike didn't.
The Dutchman's Scott Foil RC was snapped clean in two places after he was sent flying into a barrier on the right hand side of the road with less than 4km remaining to be raced.
Both the top tube and the down tube were split apart, leaving the frame in pieces and the together only by the cables that were internally routed through the down tube.
Professional teams are usually unwilling to draw attention to damaged products from key sponsors, but Team DSM themselves circulated a video clearly showing the broken bike.
After the lead team car learned of the crash, a mechanic grabbed a spare bike and rode over to Tusveld, who was on his feet and gets going again. The mechanic then grabbed the broken bike, having to use both hands, before bundling it back towards the team car.
Tusveld finished the stage before undergoing medical examinations, which revealed no serious injuries, and he should be able to fight on in this Giro, stage 3 taking place Monday for 213km from Vasto to Melfi.
"Scans have thankfully revealed no broken bones," read a statement from Team DSM. "However, he does have multiple contusions and today is another big impact on top of his crash from before his travel to Italy.
"We hope for a good night of recovery before tomorrow's stage."
Tusveld was the first rider to hit the deck in the crash that occurred just over 3km from the finish of Sunday's flat and otherwise quiet stage 2. There was a domino effect in the peloton as riders were budged right, and Tusveld went down along with the likes of Mark Cavendish (Astana-Qazaqstan), Daan Hoole (Trek-Segafredo), and Max Kanter (Movistar).
Race leader Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) blamed Kaden Groves for the incident, claiming the Alpecin-Deceuninck sprinter pushed Davide Ballerini out to the right, sparking the domino effect. Alpecin-Deceuninck defended their rider after the accusation.
All 176 riders finished the stage, although there was some GC damage, with the likes of Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos Grenadiers), Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) and several others caught up behind the crash.
Clear and concise info from our coaches, plus a cool head (and speedy legs) from our mechanic Felipe - to get up to @martijntusveld as quickly as possible after 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 crash at the @giroditalia today.🚲 👏🏻#KeepChallenging #Giro pic.twitter.com/jbIeBchib2May 7, 2023
