Ganna has 'zero' recollection of his Tour stage 1 crash, despite undergoing concussion protocol
Filippo Ganna had hoped to form part of the Ineos Grenadiers stage-winning spearheard at the 2025 Tour de France, but he was forced to abandon before the end of stage 1 after an early crash. He's reported to have undergone the UCI's concussion protocol, which he must have passed in order to ride on for over an hour before finally climbing off.
Stefan Bissegger, who hit the ground shortly after Ganna, also abandoned due to concussion symptoms despite also remounting his bike post crash.
Two weeks later, the 28-year-old Italian has revisited his Lille ordeal, as much as is possible, telling Gazzetta dello Sport, "I don't remember anything about the crash, zero."
The UCI introduced new guidelines to identify concussion at the end of 2020, which included the production of a 'Concussion Assessment Pocket Card' for roadside assessment to help medical and non-medical personal work out how badly a rider was affected. While Ganna and Bissegger's resumption on stage 1 might indicate a failure of the system, they may have come up against the 'on-road' assessment which asks observers to study the rider's line and balance, and ask a series of questions designed to assess lucidity. Any doubts would then be referred to the race doctor for more thorough assessment or immediate withdrawal.
