Canadian riders
The two were involved in separate crashes Wednesday with
Pickrell's face was bloodied and he lost his helmet in a crash with four other riders. Woods, Raisberg and another four riders were involved in a crash 10 kilometres later.
The team then made a "late decision" to withdraw Pickrell from the race.
"His face bore the impact of the crash (Wednesday) and although he is feeling well enough to start, some slight confusion has been identified and the team is not willing to take the risk given the possibility of concussion," the team said in a statement. "Riley needs time to recover and today’s stage is too risky, so the team has made the difficult decision to withdraw him from the race."
The crash left Woods 107th in the general classification standings while
"We were gearing up for the climb when one rider caused a chain-reaction crash." said Raisberg.
“My teammate,
Wednesday's fifth stage covered 178 kilometres from
Woods was returning to the Giro after a six-year absence, looking to complete a trifecta of Grand Tour stage victories.
In addition to a stage win at last year's Tour de France, he won a stage in both the 2018 and 2020 editions of the Spanish Vuelta. Woods' best result at the Giro was runner-up in the fourth stage in 2018.
The 37-year-old from
The 107th edition of the Giro ends
Woods, who has recovered from a virus that ruled him out of the Ardennes Classics earlier in April, has largely focused on the Tour de France and Spanish Vuelta since his last ride in the Giro in 2018.
Head sports director
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published
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