The battle for Maria Rosa on stage 5 of the 2023 Giro Donne ended in a crash between Annemiek van Fruten (Movistar Team) and Elisa Longo Borghini (Lidl-Trek), with Longo Borghini losing second place overall and ultimately not starting stage 6 on Wednesday The decision was made to not start Wednesday's sixth stage.

Amidst the day's chaos, 20-year-old German Antonia Niedermeier (Canyon-SRAM) took the stage 5 win and was second overall going into the 120.7km stage 6, which started and finished in Canelli.

However, a day after his stage win in his debut Giro Donne, Niedermeier was involved in a crash with Jayco Alura's Urska Zigato, forcing both riders to abandon the Giro Donne.

Niedermeier's team, Canyon-SRAM, confirmed that she has no broken bones but has damage to her teeth and will return to Germany on Thursday. Antonia's update. At the Cuneo Hospital she was diagnosed with no fractures. There is some damage to her tooth, but it has been repaired. She will return to Germany tomorrow," the team wrote in a medical update.

Zigato's team, Jayco Aroura, confirmed that she suffered a concussion and abrasions and will be monitored. The team physician confirmed that Urschka had suffered a mild concussion and skin abrasions. The team will monitor her closely."

Niedermeier was in a group that formed at the top of Wednesday's first categorized climb, with around 34km remaining, and remained strong throughout the day.

When the road flattened out, Niedermeier, wearing the white jersey of the best young rider, positioned himself at the back of the pack, chasing a breakaway of two riders, Elinor Barker (Uno-X) and Petra Stiasny (Phoenix-Desseuninck).

However, Zigato, on Niedermeier's left, suddenly lost control of his bike and charged toward the Canyon-Slam riders.

The two appeared to be violently knocked to the ground, and live footage showed Niedermeyer holding his bloodied face.

Zigert took some time to get off the ground and was shown sitting on the curb while medical staff tended to him. Shortly thereafter, Niedermeyer was seen in an ambulance and reportedly abandoned the stage.

"With 30 km to go in the stage, Antonia Niedermeier was forced to abandon the race due to a crash. Further updates will follow," Canyon-SRAM's social media posted.

Zigart was also forced to abandon the race as a result of a crash, and Jayco Aroura issued a similar statement: "Unfortunately, @urskazigart has abandoned the race due to a crash." The team tweeted, "We will provide more information after the stage."

As a result of Longo Borghini and Niedermeier abandoning the race, Van Vleuten's hold on the pink jersey became even stronger. American rider Veronica Ewers (EF Education-TIBCO-SVB) is in second place overall, 3:03 behind the world champion. Team Dsm-Firmenich's Juliette LaBouce moved up to third place, 3:39 behind.