'I'm very lucky' - Pidcock escapes serious injury after ravine crash at Volta a Catalunya

There were multiple crashes on the descent of the penultimate climb of the stage, the Collada Sobirana, inside the final 30 kilometres, with João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) also among the fallers.

Reports from race radio indicated that Pidcock had crashed, though there was no broadcast footage of the British rider to confirm his status on the road.

In the valley roads that followed, Almeida was one of the last riders to return to the peloton, which had become briefly fragmented due to the crashes on the descent, but Pidcock was still nowhere to be seen, indicating that he had crashed, but there was no confirmation about his condition.

Pidcock has since confirmed that he did crash, and it was a significant one at that, as the British rider fell down a ravine after mistiming a corner. Pidcock described himself as “very lucky” to have avoided serious injury, such was the severity of the incident.

“I was drinking on the descent and misjudged a corner. I overshot it and went down the ravine. It was like one of these horror crashes you see, but I’m very lucky that I am okay,” Pidcock explained in an official press release from the team. 

Thankfully, Pidcock was able to communicate to his team on the radio to highlight his whereabouts, and the British rider remounted and finished the stage in 116th, 29:04 behind stage winner Jonas Vingegaard. 

“I am lucky I could talk on the radio. I was far from the road and nobody knew I was there. I’m happy I could finish the stage,” added the British rider. 

Pidcock had moved ahead of Remco Evenepoel into 2nd overall following stage 4 due to picking up nine bonus seconds, including four from finishing 3rd on the stage. He had sat 0:13 behind then-race leader Dorian Godon. 

It marks a setback for the in-form Pidcock, who was looking to test his climbing legs after his stunning performance last weekend at Milan-Sanremo, and he had set himself up into a strong GC position ahead of the all-important summit finish on the Coll de Pal. 

His GC challenge for this week is now over, and the team confirmed that initial assessments showed no signs of serious injury, but also the fact that Pidcock will undergo further medical evaluations this Friday evening, which will likely determine whether he takes to the start for stage 6 on Saturday.