Netcompany-Ineos leader Oscar Onley sheds 29 minutes after spooky crash in Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

Netcompany-Ineos can be breathing a sigh of relief after their Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes GC leader Oscar Onley finished stage 6 following a crash that Matteo Jorgenson (Visma-Lease a Bike) witnessed.

“The downhill was really tricky. I really hope Oscar Onley is OK. I saw him go over the edge, and that kind of spooked me a little bit,” Jorgenson said after seeing Onley fall on the descent from the Côte d’Héry-sur-Ugine inside the final 10km of the 182.3km mountain stage to Crest-Voland.

It was a tense wait for information until Onley was seen crossing the finish line 29 minutes and 17 seconds after stage winner Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).

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Netcompany-Ineos issued a brief statement on social media, writing, “Oscar Onley was able to finish stage 6 of #TourAuvergneRhoneAlpes despite suffering a crash on the final descent. He will be further assessed by our medical team, and we will provide an update in due course.”

It was a terrible day for the British team, who lost Josh Tarling to a crash earlier in the stage. The Briton was seen gingerly cradling his left arm, and the team confirmed he was being assessed for injuries.

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Then, the team’s other GC leader, Kévin Vauquelin, was unable to hold on when Decathlon CMA CGM’s Paul Seixas attacked on the final climb to Crest-Voland, and lost 1:32 to the Frenchman and Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates-XRG).

He dropped from second place overall to 15th place behind new race leader Luke Tuckwell (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). Vauquelin is now 3:50 behind Tuckwell, and 44 seconds behind Seixas.

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