VIDEO: Kevin Geniets forced to abandon Paris-Nice after freak accident at start area

Groupama - FDJ's week has not been the best at Paris-Nice as crashes affected the team's performance heavily, today Kevin Geniets did not start stage seven after being hit by a sponsorship panel at the start area in Nice.

As seen in the video below by TV 2 Sport, the strong gusts of wind at the start did some damage in the peloton but perhaps not in the way that was expected. A situation where bad luck ruled, a gust of wind blew down a sponsorship panel at the start interview area and took down Geniets who happened to be riding behind it at the time, taking him down into the ground and against a barrier. Geniets reported pain to the ankle, and although he got up and took to the start of the stage, he abandoned inside of the neutral zone due to the pain.

This incident comes after teammate Jake Stewart was assaulted yesterday during a training ride in his home roads near Manchester. The French team has not had a good week at Paris-Nice with David Gaudu missing out on the GC fight due to a crash in stage two, but Valentin Madouas is in pole position to win the KOM classification which may save the team's week.