Warren Barguil (Arkea-Samsic) went down during stage 2 of Paris-Nice and was forced to abandon the race as he was diagnosed with a double fracture of the second cervical vertebra.
Winds shredded the Paris-Nice peloton and the bunch split into frantic echelons in the second stage. At the back of one of those groups, Rigoberto Uran’s touched wheels with another rider and tumbled to the pavement, breaking his left clavicle.
“I had a tough crash,” Uran said. “Today, there was a lot of wind. I touched a rider, another rider touched my wheel. … I feel disappointed, of course. I had good legs. That’s cycling.”
“It’s always tough when you see anyone on the team take a hard fall like that. These guys put a ton of time in during the offseason training for the early season, so I feel for them when there’s a setback,” said EF Pro Cycling CEO, Jonathan Vaughters. “We wish Rigo a speedy recovery and look forward to welcoming him back to the races once he’s ready.”
Gorka Izagirre (Astana), who was third in last year’s Paris-Nice, was another notable abandonment, suffering a head injury and temporary loss of consciousness.
Dimension Data lost both Louis Meintjes and Mark Cavendish on the stage.
