The first international stage race with UCI ranking since competition was suspended due to Covid19 has been stopped with just under 30km remaining on the opening stage.
Dookola Mazowsza, a UCI 2.2-ranked race being held over four days in Poland, was forced to a halt due to a bad crash on the finishing circuit before the riders got that far.
A man on a motorbike, who appears to have been a member of the public with no link to the race, was involved in a crash with one of the race's official vehicles.
And because the crash was a serious one, and road closures were required, the decision was taken to stop the race as the riders had just passed the 30km to go marker.
The opening stage was due to be 168km starting and finishing in Teresin, where the motorcyclist was overtaking parked cars and crashed into the official race car which was blocking a junction leading into the circuit.
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He hit the car at very high speed and after ambulances and fire tenders rushed to the scene they blocked the road and forced the stage to be halted and then cancelled.
The motorcyclist who crashed was very seriously injured and was airlifted to hospital after being attended to at the scene.
An investigation under a prosecutor is now underway and it appears the prosecutor will determine if stages 3 and 4 of the race, on Friday and Saturday, can go ahead.
Tomorrow's stage 2 is an individual TT at a horse racing track and because it is not being held on public roads it can go ahead.
It appears the final two stages are in the balance because the prosecutor conducting the investigation into today's crash must decide if the race organisers had secured the course properly.
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