Greig Leach

Around four kilometers from the finish in Angers there was a large crash leaving twenty riders on the ground and many more held up behind the bikes and bodies strewn across the road. One of the many hurt, was Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez). It took her some time to get back up and underway. At first, she couldn't turn over the pedals, so two of her teammates Juliette Labous and Amber Kraak pushed her along until she felt good enough to ride under her own power. There are two rules at play here. First, every rider must cross the finish line, with a bike, or they are out of the race. Two, if there is a crash or a mechanical problem inside of the final five kilometers (sometimes it is a shorter distance) they will be given the same time as the group they had been with before the incident. So, for now, Vollering's Tour is safe. We will have to wait and see if she is okay to start tomorrow. And if she does start how well she be able to race and just how bad was the fall. I should point out that Amber Kraak has the bib number thirteen. It is tradition to turn the numbers, or at least one of them upside to counter the bad luck. It is so common that her numbers are printed upside down (notice the blue stripe that should be on the bottom of the race number bib.) I guess the upside-down number didn't work for the luck of the team today.