With three-time winners Marcel Kittel and Mark Cavendish already absent, André Greipel’s late withdrawal from Scheldeprijs was met with no little disappointment from race director Piet De Smet, who wasted no time in voicing his ire to the Flemish media.
While the official explanation from Lotto-Soudal was that Greipel was still recovering from his exertions at the Tour of Flanders last weekend, over the years the German has scarcely hidden his dislike of a race reputed to be among the most dangerous on the professional calendar.
Greipel has not competed here since 2012, and he will doubtless have felt at peace with that decision after the finale of Scheldeprijs was marred once again by a mass crash – the fourth such incident in the past seven editions.
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Inside the final kilometre of the last lap of the technical finishing circuit in Schoten, a clash between Sam Bennett (Bora-Argon 18) and Andrea Guardini (Astana) saw both men fall and bring Tom Van Asbroeck (LottoNL-Jumbo) down with them. Over a dozen more riders hit the ground as a result of that initial contact, including Elia Viviani (Sky), Michael Mørkøv (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Shane Archbold (Bora-Argon 18).
Only 14 riders evaded the crash altogether, with Alexander Kristoff (Katusha) claiming the win ahead of Edward Theuns (Topsport-Vlaanderen) and Yauheni Hutarovich (Bretagne-Séché).
After the crash, Viviani sat on the roadside clutching his right arm and was taken to hospital for further examination after the race, though the full extent of his injuries were not immediately apparent. “Elia had a lot of pain in his arm and ribs, but that’s all we know at the moment,” directeur sportif Servais Knaven said in a statement from the team.
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