No luck for Olympic champion Kristen Faulkner after second crash at Tour de France Femmes

Luck has not been on Kristen Faulkner‘s side as the EF Education-Oatly rider crashed with 6km to go on stage 4 at the Tour de France Femmes on Tuesday. It is the second crash for the Olympic and US Champion, who also went down on stage 2 in Quimper.

Faulkner was able to get back on her bike and finish the race with what appeared to be abrasions on her left arm and leg.

EF Education-Oatly have not yet released a medical update.

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Faulkner went down late in the 130.7km race from Saumur to Poitiers, with television footage showing what appeared to be her being squeezed into the curb on the left-hand side of the road just as the peloton bunched up near the back.

She sat at the side of the road for a few moments before she unclipped from her pedal and stood up. She did not remount her bike immediately; instead, she spoke into the radio to request mechanical support.

She received a spare bike and rode to the finish line in Poitiers, giving a smile to a television camera along the way to crossing the line in last place on the day at 4:22 behind the stage winner Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime).

It was the second crash for Faulkner at this Tour de France Femmes, having already gone down on the second day of racing into Quimper, where she also finished last place on the day, 24:16 after stage winner Mavi García (Liv AlUla Jayco), and just inside the time limit.

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Faulkner did not have an optimal start to the year, and after recovering from a concussion sustained in training in the off-season, she started racing later than usual at Milan-San Remo. She went on to win a second consecutive elite women’s road race title at the USA Pro Championships in May.

Faulkner said she did not come into this Tour de France in the best form, after suffering from an illness, but that she had hoped to perform in stages and in a support role for her teammate Cédrine Kerbaol.

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