Mark Cavendish has been given a clean bill of health after crashing on stage nine of the Giro d’Italia.
Matt Goss and Filippo Pozzato collided on the tight final corner of the 166km stage from San Giorgio del Sannio to Frosinone, triggering a chain reaction which held up a number of the contenders for victory.
Cavendish, who was well positioned for the final sprint, tried to take evasive action but rode over the wheel of a stricken SaxoBank rider and went over the handlebars in slow-motion.
It is the second time in the race that Cavendish, winner of stages two and five, has been denied the opportunity to contest the finale, with the Manx Missile suffering severe road rash after crashing on stage three.
“It was a disappointing way for the stage to finish for us but unfortunately these things can happen in sprints,” said Team Sky directeur sportif Steven de Jongh.
“At the end Cav couldn’t start his sprint because he was caught right behind the crash; he didn’t crash hard himself luckily but it’s a real shame. He’s absolutely fine though and it didn’t cause him any trouble from an injury point of view.”
Television pictures fail to show who was to blame for the crash, but Pozzato has pointed the finger at Goss, while also apologising for his part in the pile-up.
“I tried to take the curve in the best position possible, behind Goss and his team-mate [Daryl Impey] with 350m to go. A perfect place,” said the Italian.
“I don’t know if Goss wanted to take the corner wider because his team-mate took it hard or if he wanted to be sneaky, brake and create a gap for his team-mate. I went in [to him] at full speed.
He added: “I want to say sorry. Frankly, though, he braked. He tried to be sneaky.”
Goss, who refused to comment on the crash after the stage, later wrote on Twitter: “Well, that was a chance gone begging. Haven’t seen the video to see what happened yet, but someone come in way to hot and forgot to turn.”
The Australian, who won stage three, added: “I saw Pippo [Filippo Pozzato] going straight and tried to take a wider line to try and avoid him but wasn’t to be, that’s sprinting I guess.”
