"The last thing we needed": Scaroni shakes off stage 11 crash with a commendable effort, but race ends for Van Eetvelt

Cristian Scaroni did everything right in the eleventh stage of Giro d'Italia and yet, he walked away with a mere 6th place and multiple scars. The 195-kilometer stage from Porcari to Chiavari brought about an eventful afternoon with a compact breakaway battling for a stage victory while being kept on a short leash by the peloton.

It's taken nearly two hours for a group to finally form at the front as the riders entered a hilly section in the second half of today's stage. For XDS Astana Team, the situation was near-perfect with two pawns - Scaroni and Diego Ulissi - in the mix. Until a disaster struck.

Heading towards an exciting finale with two 5-kilometer climbs left to conquer, the previously dropped Aleksander Vlasov managed to bridge back in a descent. Using his momentum, the Russian rider immediately pulled over to the front and kept pushing the pace. This change of pace put fellow escapee Lennert Van Eetvelt in difficulty, causing a domino-effect crash with Filippo Zana and Scaroni also involved.

Scaroni fought and almost bridged back across to the front group, but just as he was on the verge of contact, Mas accelerated. That acceleration split the group with only Narváez able to follow, but more importantly, it spelled the end of Scaroni's chances: "Ah, yes, unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. Still, I gave it my all from the crash right through to the end," Scaroni said in a brief response for CyclingProNet.

Thus, the Italian completed unintentionally a second 40-kilometer time trial within two days, but to no avail. Even though his crash looked dangerous, the 28-year-old should be normally fit to start tomorrow's stage.

"Nothing’s broken, which is the main thing. There are definitely some nasty scrapes and bruises, and that crash was the last thing we needed," Scaroni said. "But in a few days, I’ll be ready to fight again."

Unlike Scaroni, Lennert Van Eetvelt's landing seems to have been much harder, as his team Lotto-Intermarché informed that the Belgian suffered, besides some abrasions, a fracture in his middle finger. This injury will prevent Van Eetvelt from partcipating in the stage 12 of this year's Giro d'Italia, as focus is placed on recovery with Tour de France start in mind this July.