No Fractures, But Visma Cannot Yet Confirm Affini for the Tour After a Heavy Crash at the Italian Nationals
Visma-Lease a Bike have been handed yet another pre-Tour scare after Edoardo Affini crashed heavily during the Italian time trial national championships in Barolo, leaving the team unable to guarantee the Italian's place at the Tour de France just nine days before the Barcelona Grand Départ.
The 40-kilometre test against the clock crowned Filippo Ganna the Italian champion once again, but the day will be remembered in the Visma camp for what happened behind him. Affini, expected to be Ganna's closest challenger, crashed roughly six kilometres into his effort. He was reported to be conscious but was carried into an ambulance, an alarming sight with the biggest race of the year on the horizon.
The timing could hardly be worse. Visma have already lost Wout van Aert and Christophe Laporte to injury, forcing the team into a reshuffle that brought Davide Piganzoli into the squad after his strong Giro d'Italia and Per Strand Hagenes into Laporte's role. Affini, even after riding the Giro, was always pencilled in for the Tour as a key engine on the flat for Jonas Vingegaard.
That role matters. The Tour can be lost on any given day, and Vingegaard relies on powerful rouleurs and classics men to keep him sheltered and well positioned through the nervous flat and hilly stages before the mountains arrive. Affini has become one of the most dependable of those domestiques, equally adept at chasing down breakaways and fighting for position in the bunch.
By Friday evening the team had offered a measure of reassurance. Visma confirmed that Affini had been taken to hospital, never lost consciousness, and that examinations revealed no fractures. "Over the coming days, his recovery will be monitored," the team said, stopping short of any guarantee about the Tour itself.
No broken bones is the best possible news in the circumstances, but bruising, road rash and the shock of a high-speed crash can still blunt a rider's condition in the crucial final days of preparation. Even if Affini makes the start line in Barcelona, his form may be compromised; if he does not, Visma will be forced into a third lineup change in the space of a fortnight as they chase another yellow jersey with Tadej Pogacar and UAE Team Emirates-XRG looming.