First woman Tour de France to go into disarray after piling up

The Tour de France turned into chaos on Thursday as a mammoth race swallowed dozens of riders just 45 kilometers from the finish line. Several riders were injured and one of them was taken to hospital.

Thursday was the fifth stage of the first women’s Tour de France. This stage included a 175-kilometre journey from Bar-Le-Duc to Saint-Die-Des-Vosges. This stage was seen as a sprint ahead of Friday’s challenging Vosges mountain range.

With 130 kilometers off the road, the riders started to quicken their pace with a straight forward opening. It was here that the pack tightened, almost brushing the rods of the handle.

It took one rider to go down to take the majority of the pack with her and soon it crashed from behind her into the back of the pile. Eventually, the entire road was closed off as paramedics rushed to the scene.

Those who were fine on their bikes soon rushed to chase the leaders, but several were injured, including Movistar’s Danish star Emma Norsgaard, who was taken to hospital with a broken collarbone.

Last month, Italian jockey Daniel Oss broke his neck on the same stage after colliding with a fan and previous years’ race saw half a peloton collected on stage five as well.