UPDATE: Juan Pedro Lopez escapes nasty Getxo crash without major consequences

The 79th edition of the Circuito de Getxo seemed to be heading for a thrilling finale in the Basque city as a 20-headed group of favourites crystallized at the front.

Riding down from the penultimate climb of the day - the Alto del Pike, Lidl-Trek's Juan Pedro López was looking good, but sadly an ugly-looking crash in the descent ended all hopes for the Spaniard. "I just saw the video of today's crash... how lucky I was..." López reflects on the scary crash in a short X message, "this is cycling and we will be back in the best way! Thank you all very much for the encouragement."

López losing control over his bicycle while at the front of the group of favourites also saw a bit of chain reaction in the bunch as Astana Qazaqstan Team's Anthon Charmig who had been sitting in the fourth wheel at a time panicked a bit and hit the deck too.

The Dane was taken to a hospital for medical checks after which his team provided a brief update: "Anthon Charmig has been checked in the Hospital of Urduliz and no fracture or any other serious injury found. The rider will spend a night in the hospital and tomorrow will flight home."