The Tour de Pollogne resumed Thursday with the second stage without its main sprinters who were involved in a high-speed crash at the finish in Katowice the day before.

Six riders were involved in the stage 1 crash, but those unable to start stage 2 due to injury were Fabio Jacobsen (Deceuninck-Quick Step), Marc Sarrault (Groupama-FDJ), and Damien Touzet (Cofidis), Eduardo Prades (Movistar) were.

After a coronavirus outbreak that put the entire peloton out of action for nearly five months, the four injured players were forced to rehabilitate for several weeks and, in Jacobsen's case, months.

Jasper Philippsen (UAE Team Emirates) and Nielson Powles (EF Pro Cycling) were also involved in the crash and suffered minor injuries, but were able to start the second stage from Opole to Zabrze on Thursday.

The accident occurred in the last few meters of the first stage as Dylan Groenewegen (Jumbo-Visma) and Jacobsen were sprinting toward the finish line in Katowice. Groenewegen veered off line to the right, causing Jacobsen to crash through a roadside barrier. Groenewegen lost control of his bike and crashed just after the finish line.

Jakobsen suffered the worst damage in the crash and was airlifted to the hospital in serious condition. He was placed in a medically-induced coma in the intensive care unit of a hospital in Sosnowiec.

The Movistar team confirmed that Prades suffered a fracture of the cervical vertebrae along with back wounds that required stitches. He also has pain in his ribs and right shoulder blade area.

Prades was taken by ambulance to a nearby medical center immediately after the accident, where he underwent an x-ray examination that revealed a small transverse fracture of the cervical vertebra C6.

Prades spent the night in the hospital and was released Thursday morning. According to a team press release, Prades was then moved to the Movistar team headquarters in Pamplona, where he will undergo a full examination in the next few days.

Cofidis confirmed that Touze suffered three fractures to the index finger of his right hand. He underwent surgery Wednesday night to correct the fractures and was discharged Thursday afternoon. He is scheduled to return to France on Friday.

After the crash, Touzet was treated by the race's medical service and then taken to the hospital with Cofidis' team doctor, Frederic Maton, where a more detailed examination confirmed the fractures. Cofidis expects a four-week recovery period before Touzet can return to racing.

"Obviously it is difficult. I've been training hard for months after my confinement and I wanted to have a good season. Everything happened so fast yesterday. I was focused on the sprints and as I approached the line I saw Jacobsen going into the barriers. One of them came back onto the road and I couldn't avoid it. I hovered over the bike and slipped on the asphalt," Touze said. [I had a big impact on my ribs and it took me a while to catch my breath. Then I was immediately treated and moved to the hospital with the team doctor. After examination, they found a three-open fracture of the index finger of his right hand. He underwent surgery immediately. Today it still hurts. But at the same time, I measure how lucky I am because I survived rather well compared to the others. All my thoughts are with Jacobsen and his loved ones. I pray for his recovery.

Groupama-FDJ announced that Salo was also taken to a nearby hospital after the crash, where medical staff confirmed a dislocated acromioclavicular joint and multiple car accident burns.

"I'm not feeling too bad," Sarrow said in a press release. He said, "I got back from the hospital quite late, around 1:00 a.m. I was in the hospital, and I was in a very bad way. It wasn't the best night, but I slept okay. It feels good, but let's hope the next few nights will be better. The shoulder injury is always painful, but considering the speed and intensity of the crash, it was manageable."

According to Sarrault, he was right behind Jacobsen and Groenewegen in the final sprint when the crash occurred. At first he was able to avoid the crash by veering off to the left, but Jacobsen's impact caused the roadside barrier to go over the road, which caused him to crash as well, he said. He said it was the barrier that caught up with him after that, noting that his power sensors registered 81.7 km/h at the peak of the sprint."

"I was a little stunned," Sarrault recalled immediately after the crash. 'Immediately I tried to protect my head. There were a lot of racers coming and I thought I was going to crash. After a few seconds, I saw that he had calmed down and I tried to catch my breath and get back up. But I couldn't. I was a little stunned, but I didn't lose consciousness. Then the first teammate arrived and I stood up very slowly to recover. I was in pain, but I didn't know where the pain was. I was then put in an ambulance and taken to the hospital with the team doctor for scans and x-rays.

"I would have liked to have raced (stage 2) but I will suffer in silence and I am not sure yet about the recovery time, but I think I will have time to get back before the end of the season. We are also thinking about Fabio Jacobsen. We don't wish that on anyone," Salo added.

The CPA, the union of professional cyclists, sent an open letter to UCI president David Lapartient and Tour de Pollogne director Agata Lang, asking them to impose universal standards on barriers in the finish area. The dangers of the finish being held on the descent to Katowice were also mentioned.

The UCI issued a statement after the crash condemning the actions of Grunewegen, who broke his collarbone in the accident, and said it had referred the matter to the Disciplinary Committee for sanctions to be imposed. The Commissaires' Committee of the Tour de Pollogne disqualified Groenewegen and fined him 500 Swiss francs. Jambovisma and Groenewegen issued a statement apologizing for the incident.

Deceuninck-QuickStep issued a medical update on Thursday morning, confirming that Jacobsen remains in the intensive care unit and is in serious but stable condition after undergoing 5.5 hours of facial surgery overnight. Jacobsen remains in a coma, but doctors plan to bring him out of it at a later date.

"His condition is serious. Fortunately, no vital organs have been damaged and he is stable, but the next few hours are critical. They are trying to wake him up," team owner Patrick Lefebvre told Belga News Agency on Thursday.

A roadside official was also hit by the collision and was taken to the hospital with head injuries, but is now confirmed to be in stable condition.