A long moment of fear, the one we all experienced watching the live images from the women's Sanremo. The descent of the Cipressa was indeed the scene of a serious crash: the first to hit the ground, in a right-hand curve, was Kasia Niewiadoma followed by Kim Le Court. Other athletes came down on top of them and crashed to the ground, but most notably Debora Silvestri who suddenly found the obstacle in front of her, braked instinctively and was catapulted over the guardrail, falling onto the road below and landing heavily on her back.

A very serious crash but fortunately the first reports coming from race radio are reassuring, telling us that the athlete is conscious and being assisted by the race medical staff.

updates to follow