Lotte Kopecky edged Noemi Rüegg and Eleonora Gasparrini in a sprint of five to win the women’s San Remo cycling race which was marred by a horrific-looking crash.
Several riders were caught up in the incident, with Italy’s Debora Silvestri flung over a guardrail as she tried to avoid the pileup.
Silvestri’s team, Laboral Kutxa, said she was conscious as she was taken to hospital.
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“This is absolutely terrible, what a horrible sight to see,” the commentator said on SBS.
The aftermath of a crash in San Remo. SBS/Twitter
The women’s race followed a 156km route from Genoa to San Remo.
In the men’s race, a bloodied and bruised Tadej Pogacar recovered from a crash about 30km from the finish to edge out Tom Pidcock on the line.
“When I crashed, for a second I thought it’s all over because to crash in Imperia just before the most important part of the race is not ideal,” Pogacar said.
“Luckily I was quickly back on the bike and not too much damage to me or to the bike.
“Then I saw my team … they left out everything to come back to the front and they gave me back hope and the legs were still okay … today if there is no team probably I would just go straight to the finish line.”
Milan-San Remo is one of the longest one-day classics in Europe at almost 300km.