The 103rd edition of the Scheldeprijs was overshadowed by a crash on the final kilometer today. After 200 kilometers, BORA – ARGON 18 sprint leader Sam Bennett was in a promising position when another rider fell and brought him down. This caused a chain reaction in the peloton that let many other riders crash at the highest speed. Sam Bennett and Shane Archbold were brought to the hospital by the team to check for any severe injuries. 

“Until the crash in the finale we rode a good race and Sam was in a very good position. We don’t want to speculate what would have been possible without the crash. The health of our riders is of importance now. We are on the way to the hospital with Sam and Shane to check precisely whether both are OK”, says Sport Director Enrico Poitschke directly after the race.

“Our tactics were clearly focused on Sam and his good position in the finale proves us right. Actually, Shane was planned to be his last lead-out man, but he's already fallen early in the race and so we had to change the positions. Zak [Dempster] brought Sam to the right wheels on the last five kilometers and Christoph has taken over from there. He supported Sam very well in the final kilometers. Until then, everything went according to plan”, Poitschke continues.

Later Poitschke was able to give an update on his injured riders.

“We just got out of the hospital. Both guys haven’t broken anything, which is good news after that hard crash. Shane is with the team now and he is OK so far. As it looks right now he’ll be able to line-up in Paris-Roubaix on Sunday.

"Sam will stay a night in the hospital for further observation. He is OK, but in pain. He fell on his head and he has a whiplash. Even though we are confident that he’ll be released shortly, we didn’t want to risk anything. That’s why we decided that Sam spends the night in the hospital.”