After scoring the first WorldTour victory of her young pro cycling career on Friday, Mara Roldan was forced out of the Tour of Britain on Saturday after crashing in a rainy stage 3 in Kelso.
Roldan went down in a crash with 56 kilometres to go in the 143.8 kilometre stage and abandoned the race. Her team, Picnic-PostNl, announced on social media that she broke her femur in the fall.
“She undergoes surgery tomorrow, before beginning the road to recovery at her own pace. Heal up, Mara and we’ll see you in action when you’re ready,” the team wrote.
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Kelso and the Scottish Borders hosted stage 3 of the Tour of Britain Women, but in addition to Movistar’s Cat Ferguson taking her first Women’s WorldTour victory, the stage will be remembered for two big crashes on the rain-soaked roads that took down over 30 riders, with nine of them having to abandon.
The bigger of the two crashes happened in a right turn on a descent a few kilometres before the first passage of the finish line in Kelso with 56km to go. Roldan, who won stage 2 with a 14-kilometre solo attack, was riding in third wheel when she slid out, and about 20 other riders suffered the same fate only seconds later.
It was down to luck who stayed upright and who didn’t, and while some riders got away unhurt or with only superficial injuries, several riders stayed on the ground for longer. Roldan was one of them, and as she received medical attention, Lizzie Deignan (Lidl-Trek) stayed with her, forgoing her own chances in the race to make sure Roldan was taken care of. For this, Deignan was awarded the day’s combativity prize.
Barbara Guarischi (SD Worx-Protime) also stayed down, with her teammate Lorena Wiebes checking on her right away. The 34-year-old Italian did not get back on her bike and was instead transported to hospital for check-ups.
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Stage 1 winner Kim Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal) did continue the race after the crash, but she had already had a heavy crash early on stage 2 and eventually decided to pull out of the race.
Overall leader Kristen Faulkner (EF Education-Oatly) also got back on her bike, but she was later involved in the second big crash that involved a dozen riders. In the end, Faulkner crossed the finish line more than three minutes behind.
Letizia Paternoster (Liv-AlUla-Jayco) was not so lucky. Getting going again after the second crash, Paternoster sought out the race doctor with pain in her elbow and then decided to abandon.
Anniina Ahtosalo (Uno-X Mobility), Sannah Zaman (CJ O’Shea), Lucy Lee (DAS-Hutchinson), and Karlijn Koops (Hess) also abandoned the race after crashing while Letizia Borghesi (EF Education-Oatly) stopped racing due to exhaustion in the wet and rainy Scottish weather.