In the third stage of Tour de France, around 20 cyclists were involved in a huge crash. The third stage was a 159.5km long stretch from Antwerp to Huy and after a cyclist went off-balance, the others behind him followed which resulted in a massive pile-up at the site. Several riders are out of the Tour de France after a crash.

More than 20 riders have fallen from their bikes in the third stage of the Tour de France in a massive crash that put one cyclist in a neck brace and tipped over yellow jersey holder Fabian Cancellara. William Bonnet and Simon Gerrans also had to make an early exit from the race. Some of the riders suffered serious injuries and had to be taken to the hospital, while others continued the race after being attended to by the medical staff.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-Zj8OP6Jlg

The pile-up, the second day accident of the day, happened at the foot of about 60km shy of the finish line. Swiss Cancellara was one of several top names to hit the tarmac, as did Australian Simon Gerrans and Dutchman Tom Dumoulin who had to abandon the race. Kiwi rider Greg Henderson was also involved, though he got back on his bike and completed the stage.

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The crash was after the riders had traversed about 100-kilometres of the 160km stage from Antwerp to Huy in Belgium.  Bonnet, a rider for team FDJ, was conscious when he was taken away by medical staff on a stretcherOwing to Cancellara’s withdrawal; Christopher Froome took over the yellow jersey. Joaquim Rodriguez won the third stage. The fourth stage of the race will take place between the narrow lanes of Seraing and Cambrai, where experts are predicting several more crashes.

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Organizers halted the race following the incident, with the report that “the number of doctors that had to stay behind at the scene would have meant it was unsafe for the peloton to ride ahead.” Former pro paul Sherwen told NBC that he couldn’t remember a time when the Tour had actually stopped the race due to a crash; the report likewise dubbed it “one of the worst crashes” in the race’s history. Several cyclists are out of the race entirely due to injuries, including Giant-Alpecin’s Tom Dumoulin, who had been in third place before the crash.