Ryan Mullen (Cannondale Pro Cycling) was forced out of the Three Days of De Panne (UCI 2.HC) yesterday after being caught up in a crash on the 211-kilometre second stage of the race from Zottegem to Koksijde.
The Irish Time Trial Champion was caught up in the crash involving a number of riders just before the Monteberg after 110 kilometres of the stage.
Mullen was unable to continue but his team later confirmed that he escaped relatively uninjured whereby they said that it had been a “heavy crash” but that he had escaped “with scrapes and bruises”.
The Irishman could have been hopeful of scoring a decent result in today’s final stage of the race, a 14.2-kilometre time-trial at De Panne. Mullen had been listed as a starter for next week’s Scheldeprijs (UCI 1.HC) but it’s unclear at this stage as to whether he will be able to line up.
Mullen’s withdrawal from the race means there are just three riders left from Cannondale team, as Kristoffer Skjerping, Kristijan Koren, Matti Breschel and Patrick Bevin all withdrew on the first stage.
Alexander Kristoff (Team Katusha) goes into the final day of racing with a 5″ lead over Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Pro Team) and a further 5″ ahead of Lutsenko’s team-mate Lieuwe Westra.
