The 20-year-old came into the monument as the favourite to take the victory after a string of impressive performances in 2020, but the race was far from people's thoughts as vision emerged of Evenepoel falling off the edge of a narrow bridge into a ravine.
The Belgian star had been descending from the Muro di Sormano with the lead group of six other riders, but hit the side of the bridge, with his momentum carrying him over the edge of the bridge and down a significant drop into the valley below.
Deceuninck-Quickstep confirmed after the race that the 20-year-old suffered a fractured pelvis and bruised lung in the crash.
Team manager Patrick Lefevere told media at the Como hospital that Evenepoel is unlikely to race again in 2020.
The initial reports of the crash only came with the vision of Evenepoel disappearing off the side of the bridge, but it was quickly established that he was conscious and responding to paramedics on scene.
"We didn’t see the fall ourselves, we only heard about it on the race radio,' said Deceuninck-QuickStep sports director Davide Bramati. "When we saw that Remco's data had stopped, we already thought it was him. When we got there, all I saw was his bike. A bike without a rider, that's not a pleasant sight."
"I walked straight down and quickly saw that he was okay. He could talk and said he had pain in his right side. He's in the hospital now, with the doctor, Patrick [Lefevere] and his family. I think he'll be all right. But may the bad luck stop for us now,” Bramati said, referring to Fabio Jakobsen's crash at the Tour de Pologne.
