Published August 1, 2011 02:51PM
A crash late in Monday’s second stage of the Tour of Poland knocked BMC’s Alessandro Ballan out of the race and prevented teammate Alexander Kristoff from contesting the sprint finish.
Ballan, the 2009 champion overall winner at the Polish race, went down in a high-speed pile-up about three kilometers from the end.
BMC’s Danilo Wyss said he was following the wheel of the peloton’s leading rider, who inexplicably swerved.
“It was slightly downhill, so it was very fast,” Wyss said. “He went right and I had to go right as well. Alexander touched my wheel and crashed.”
Ballan also went down hard, landing on his left knee. An X-ray showed no breakage, the team said.