"At first glance, it seems to end without serious consequences. It is unfortunate that Primoz was involved in this crash today, but we are lucky that he is not seriously injured", Addy Engels said.

Immediately after the finish, the Dutch sports director reflected on the eleventh stage, which suddenly changed from a typical sprinter's ride to a hectic stage. "On a day when you think it is going to be smooth, it is chaos again. Suddenly something happened with far-reaching consequences. Riders are crashing all the time in this Giro, which has resulted in numerous withdrawals. We're doing everything we can to stay healthy and in one piece, but we can't completely control bad luck. Today's events will certainly affect the rest of the Giro. We will have to see how to deal with it."

The sports director referred to the crash of Tao Geoghegan Hart, who went down with Roglic and general classification leader Geraint Thomas.

Koen Bouwman saw at close quarters that the Ineos rider was badly banged up. "It didn't look good. I immediately gave Primoz my bike so he could continue on his way. Then I saw Hart lying on the ground. I asked him if there was anything I could do. He quickly said that it was all over for him. It is very unfortunate that someone literally falls out of the Giro. It was another hectic day. We've had too much of that this Giro", Bouwman said.

German Pascal Ackermann won the stage. In the finishing straight in Tortona, he pushed his bike across the line just ahead of Italian Jonathan Milan.