The worst victim of the crash that split the peloton, as it began to accelerate into the closing kilometres of today’s fourth stage of the Tour of Qatar, was Team Sky’s Michael Barry. The Canadian was the only rider not to get up and remount after the incident, which brought down several riders, and x-rays later confirmed that he had suffered a broken elbow.
"Thanks for the kind messages,” he posted to his Twitter feed afterwards. “Sadly I broke my elbow. Surgery required. Hopefully back on the bike before too long."
The 147km stage between Al Thakhira and Madinat Al Shamal was one of the most wind-affected of the race so far, with the Omega Pharma-Quick Step team managing to tear the peloton to shreds in the two laps of the 13km finishing circuit. It also crossed some of the worst road surface so far, causing dozens of punctures, but it was the speed of the peloton in the wind that led to the crash.
"He was in the line and they were all in the gutter going flat out when someone in front of him hit one of the cat’s eyes on the road and lost his front wheel and went straight down,” said Team Sky’s Race Coach Rod Ellingworth. “Michael said he just didn’t have any chance at all to react – they were doing about 70km/h at the time.
"He’s also quite badly cut and grazed and has taken a lot of skin off his back,” Ellingwoth added, “which is going to be the worst thing as he’s not going to sleep well at all."
When Barry will be returning to racing is not yet known.