‘Clumsy one’ – Richard Carapaz and Simon Yates involved in big crash and pile-up at Giro d'Italia on Stage 15

Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) and Simon Yates (BikeExchange-Jayco) were caught up in a big pile-up in the early running on Stage 15 at the Giro d’Italia. The new pink jersey and Saturday’s champ were flung onto a grassy verge after a touch of wheels in the peloton with 171km remaining on the run from Rivarolo Canavese to Cogne. Ad/> About a dozen riders hit the deck while the back of the peloton came to a standstill as limbs were untangled from carbon fibre.

Giro d'ItaliaGiro d’Italia Stage 15 LIVE – Carapaz defends pink as Hindley lurks2 HOURS AGO “We’ve had a fall with the maglia rosa involved. It looks more of a clumsy one than anything else,” said Rob Hatch on Eurosport commentary. Carapaz was quickly back up and on the radio requesting assistance from team-mates – who were conspicuously absent on Saturday – to drag him back into the main bunch.

The Ecuadorian was in the maglia rosa after seizing it from long-time owner Juan Pedro Lopez (Trek-Segafredo). He boasts a seven-second lead from Jai Hindley (Bora-hansgrohe). “I think he’s just got a bit of a muddy shoulder.

Doesn’t look to be any more marks on him," added Hatch as the camera panned to the favourite. Yates was also caught up in the crash as his eventful weekend continued. The Brit, who soloed clear on the final climb to take a magnificent win in Turin on Stage 14, was unscathed and immediately set about stealing the slipstream from Ineos and Carapaz to get back into the peloton.

Diego Ulissi, Fernando Gaviria (UAE Team Emirates) and Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) were also caught up in the incident. “It looks OK but there’s no good time to have a fall,” said five-time Tour de France stage winner Sean Kelly. “Getting delayed like this is not what you want at