Published March 12, 2020 03:57PM
EF Pro Cycling hit hard as Woods breaks femur and Craddock abandons
The American squad lost Michael Woods to a scary crash at Paris-Nice while Lawson Craddock later abandoned with a headache.
PLAISIR, FRANCE - MARCH 08: Arrival / Michael Woods of Canada and Team Ef Education First / during the 78th Paris - Nice 2020, Stage 1 a 154km stage from Plaisir to Plaisir / #ParisNice / @parisnicecourse / PN / on March 08, 2020 in Plaisir, France. (Photo by Luc Claessen/Getty Images)
It was a rough day for EF Pro Cycling at Paris-Nice on Thursday, with Michael Woods crashing out with a broken leg and Lawson Craddock abandoning with what team officials described as a headache.
Woods will undergo surgery Thursday evening in a French hospital after he crashed during stage 5 and sustained a broken femur. He was transported to a hospital where doctored diagnosed a closed fracture to his right femur. Team officials said the Canadian will return to his home base in Spain following surgery.
“We feel for Mike and his friends and family,” said the team’s head of medicine Kevin Sprouse in a team release. “We’ll work with Mike every inch of the way as he recovers from this injury.”
It’s a big blow for the 33-year-old, who had put the Tokyo Olympic Games at the center of his 2020 racing season.
Craddock also left Paris-Nice with what the team described as a headache, and is set to return to his home base in Spain on Friday.
“Per ASO protocols due to concerns around the COVID-19 virus, he was taken to the finish in an ambulance,” a team statement read. “The team’s doctor was in Lyon with Woods, but ASO medical officials determined Craddock did not meet the criteria to be tested for the coronavirus. Craddock will return to his European base of Girona, Spain, on Friday.”
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Earlier Thursday, Tejay van Garderen did not start the stage, and rushed to return to the United States before a 30-day travel ban between Europe and the United States begins Friday, L’Equipe reported.
EF’s Sergio Higuita remains fifth overall at 1:03 behind leader Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) with three stages to go.