American rider remains in Tour de France despite fracturing wrist in high-speed crash

The Tour de France is the most important cycling event in the world for many and is the race for which many are willing to take the most risks and endure the most pain. That is the case with Neilson Powless who has suffered a wrist fracture on one of yesterday's mass crashes but will continue the race despite it.

It was a day unfortunately marked by crashes stage 12, and in the final one there was quite a lot of damage to the peloton. Riders like Jarrad Drizners, Soren Kragh Andersen and Raul García Pierna required lengthy support after coming down with 10 kilometers to go on the day, after Astana rider Alexey Lutsenko fell in road furniture that was not visible for riders in the peloton. Primoz Roglic was the most notable rider caught up, suffering a shoulder injury and losing over two and a half minutes at the finish line, a chaotic situation for the Slovenian.

However there was another large crash with only 22 kilometers raced on the day, and within those that have crashed was Neilson Powless of EF Education-EasyPost. Coming into the race as a stage hunter for the American team, he has not been able to show his best level throughout these two weeks but the team has been very aggressive throughout plenty stages including this one too. Powless was a key part of the team's goal of taking a victory in the Grand Boucle but his ambitions took a hit as he came down alongside several others.

In the stage's medical report there were plenty riders marked out after that crash and within them Powless, who was reported to have contusions in the left wrist. After the stage, the team confirmed that he suffered a non-displaced fracture. However more surprisingly, the American team's medical staff has cleared all of it's riders to start stage 13, despite the injuries that the 27-year old has endured.