Vittoria Guazzini will not ride Saturday's Paris-Roubaix Femmes avec Zwift after fracturing her pelvis during the FDJ-Suez final route reconnaissance on Wednesday.
The Italian rider crashed hard, bringing an abrupt halt to a season. The FDJ-Suez rider had stepped up onto the podium at both Trofeo Alfredo Binda and Le Samyn des Dames, while she also came fourth at Dwars Door Vlaanderen.
“During the recon of Paris-Roubaix Vittoria Guazzini suffered a heavy fall in the Roubaix area,” the team said.
“Taken care of by the Roubaix Fire Brigade and Roubaix Hospital which FDJ-Suez would like to thank for their responsiveness.
“Vittoria suffers from a pelvic fracture. Unfortunately, she will be out of the race for Paris-Roubaix and unavailable for an indefinite period of time.”
The crash and fracture continues Guazzini's tough record at Paris-Roubaix. She crashed in the first edition, which she raced with Valcar-Travel & Service, suffering a double-fracture in her ankle.
The injury at the October edition of the race in 2021 spelt the end of Guazzini’s season. She didn’t line for the race to the Roubaix velodrome after her move to FDJ-Suez in 2022. However, given her strong performances this spring, the 22-year-old looked set to be a strong player in the squad at this year’s edition of the tough 145.5km event.
“This is a heavy loss for the team ahead of Paris-Roubaix,” said the French Women’s WorldTour squad.
“FDJ-Suez sends Vittoria all its support and wishes her a quick and full recovery.”
Marta Cavalli has been the team’s best performance at the cobbled race since a women’s edition was introduced in 2021, however last year’s fifth-placed rider withdrew from the Strade Bianche and has been out of racing since as she continues to work toward a full recovery from the consequences of her Tour de France accident on stage 2 of 2022.
The team is yet to announce its 2023 Paris-Roubaix Femmes roster but Grace Brown – who came into the Roubaix velodrome in 12th last year – Loes Adegeest and Cecilie Uttrup Ludwig were the strongest players for the squad at Tour of Flanders.
They finished in 24th, 26th and 29th after the race split on the Koppenberg as wheel slips in the front of the field stalled momentum in the peloton, leaving some riders walking up the climb.
“Seems like the more you love Flanders the less it loves you back,” said Brown on Instagram after the race.
“Felt like I was surrounded by breaking hearts as we ran up the Koppenberg. The race was over before it really began.”
The French team will be hoping for better fortune on the road to Roubaix, even though the cobbled course has already delivered a harsh blow with the loss of Guazzini.
