Torn racing pants, racing bikes on the ground, blood on elbows and knees: the women's Tour de France provides frightening images of falls in its first few days, which cycling fans are also familiar with from the men's tour.
13 of the 144 women who started had to drop out in the first three days of the Tour of France.
Co-favorite Marta Cavalli from Italy and Laura üßmilch did not even make it to the finish line of the respective stage.
Her falls had serious consequences: Cavalli suffered a traumatic brain injury, sweet milk broke two vertebrae and was taken to the hospital.
Other riders, such as the Slovenian Urska Pintar, fought their way to the finish line with pain and bloody scratches, but missed the time limit.
Also on Wednesday there were several falls on the fourth stage.
The Spanish champion Margarita Victoria Garcia Canellas was hit on the rear wheel by her team's team car about 13 kilometers from the finish line and fell heavily.
The 38-year-old was able to complete the stage, but dropped back in the overall standings.
There are many causes for accidents.
“The strong wind certainly played a role, as did the battles for positions in the field.
Everyone wanted to be at the front,” said Marianne Vos, who wore the yellow jersey in the second stage.
The excitement of taking part in the first women's Tour de France of this century also appears to be a factor.
"Everyone is a bit extra motivated," said the Swiss Marlen Reusser, who won the fourth stage, the dpa.
The Olympic second and World Championship second in the time trial also blames the driving errors of individual colleagues.
“There are also female riders at the start who make you wonder why they are there.
That makes the field very heterogeneous,” said Reusser.
In addition to the 14 WorldTour teams and the three best racing teams in the Continental category, there are seven teams who were invited via wild cards.
"It's actually enough if you have one, two or three riders who don't quite master it or take too much risk to cause avoidable falls," said Reusser.
A fall also prevented the German classics specialist Liane Lippert from intervening in the fight for the day's victory on the third stage.
She fell because she could no longer avoid Demi Vollering from the Netherlands who had fallen.
"It is a pity.
I had good legs, wasn't in big trouble on the mountain and was always in control," said Lippert.
But then came the fall.
After all, the driver from Friedrichshafen did not suffer any serious injuries.
Ronny Lauke, boss of the German racing team Canyon SRAM, sees one reason for the unrest in the peloton in the weak nerves of some of his colleagues.
“You can already see the unrest in the convoy of escort vehicles.
Some keep leaving their position and then do gymnastics in front of you.
And this nervousness, which some team managers and sport directors bring with them and which is really visible, then transfers to the drivers,” said Lauke.