‘This sport can be cruel sometimes’ – Tyre blowout cause of Sam Watson’s stage 4 Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes crash

The Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, previously known as the Critérium du Dauphiné, was only the British Champion’s second race back since then and, as Watson pointed out in a post on social media, sitting in the break of 12 was a ‘good situation’ for him. But what then happened on the descent of Côte de la Roche en Forez certainly wasn’t.

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On the final descent before the route delivered a flat 30km run to the line at Montrond-les-Bains, Watson, who was in the back half of the break, deviated from his line and headed out of control toward the road side before hitting the tarmac and taking a roll toward the grass on the roadside.

He got up, taking some time to remount, but continued on nevertheless to cross the line in last place, just over 13 minutes after his break companion Quinn Simmons (Lidl-Trek) had swept up the victory.

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“Front blow out on the descent in the break,” said Watson in an Instagram post which explained what had sparked the fall.

“This sport can be cruel sometimes. Onwards and upwards.”

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There had been no medical update from the team on Watson at the time of writing, however, as he rode away from the finish to a round of applause from the crowd who appreciated his gutsy effort to make it through, there were a number of injuries visible. This included a bloodied knee and elbow as well as a ripped up jersey, shorts and gloves. The rider also looked like he may have been nursing a finger injury.