2 cyclists who crashed at 40 mph at the world championships continued racing with gnarly road rash

On Sunday's opening day of the week-long UCI Road World Championships in Richmond, Virginia, riders from the Tinkoff-Saxo squad were racing in the team time trial at 40 mph when two of them touched wheels and crashed hard.

For the two cyclists involved it was brutal.

They hit the road before rolling into the grass:

The two would get up and continue racing but only after coming to grips with what had happened:

The team said it was hugely disappointed, naturally, but happy that neither rider broke any bones or was more seriously injured.

Images posted on Instagram showed some gnarly road rash:

Watch the full clip below, via Universal Sports:Get more info about this week's cycling's road world championships here.And here's how to watch the races live and for free.

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