Taylor Phinney disappointed after the stage 3 crash
Stage 3 general classifications leader Taylor Phinney was unfortunate to have ended up in a massive crash that involved numerous cyclists.
The American was lucky as no broken bones were reported after the medical examination and the doctors allowed him to continue the race.
Phinney left the hospital with a badly swollen ankle and received several stitches which raised a lot of eyebrows towards his fitness for the remaining part of the contest.
He make full use of the rest day and was hopeful to find his full form before the start of the team’s time trial stage 4 of the Giro d’ Italia 2012.
Taylor explained, “Today I’ve just been lounging around. Last night I couldn’t walk, but today I can walk on it slowly. I just rode for 15 minutes and started to warm up”.
“It’s definitely not the most comfortable sensation, riding with a swollen ankle but I made some modifications to the shoes”.
“I’ve just got to get as much rest as I can and we’ll see what tomorrow brings”.
“I’m definitely lucky with the timing of the rest day and the timing of the crash yesterday because I was fortunate enough to be in the last three kilometres”.
Phinney started the Giro on a high note, proving his dominance right from the beginning after his tremendous stage winning performance during the first day.
He moved on to the first overall position after the stage 1 and continued his lead for next two days.
The cyclist however, could not change his fate as the stage 3 crash has now cost him the pink jersey.
The 21-year-old started the 32.2 kilometre stage 4 of the race but failed to match the likes of Team Garmin-Barracuda riders.
He is now dropped to the fifth overall spot after the stage 5 classifications.
Ramunas Navardauskas of Team Garmin-Barracuda is leading the category with his team-mates Tyler Farrar, Robert Hunter, Ryder Hesjedal occupying the next three positions.
Phinney is now 13 seconds behind the race leader after the final general classifications and is hopeful to recover in time to claim the pink jersey.
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