Richard Carapaz and Alberto Bettiol abandon Tour de Suisse after stage 4 crash to recover before Tour de France

The broadcast of the first mountain test on my local channel started with a camera shot on Alberto Bettiol, who had been showing us a bit more skin than he would've liked, clearly a sign of a crash that must've happened in opening kilometers of the stage.

And as it turns out, the yellow jersey wearer was not the only EF Education-EasyPost rider to get to know Swiss roads too close with the Ecuadorian leader Richard Carapaz also involved in a crash.

While both men completed the stage, Carapaz even in a relatively respectable 22nd place, they won't continue in the stage race, abandoning Tour de Suisse half way through to treat their injuries ahead of Tour de France. "Richard Carapaz and Alberto Bettiol will not start stage 5 of the Tour de Suisse due to injuries sustained in a crash on stage 4. Alberto suffered from road rash and bruising and Richard suffered a face injury, which required sutures. Both riders will prioritize rest and recovery," the team informs at their X account.