Car captured Walscheid head-on
Cyclist narrowly escapes horror crash
3/25/2022, 3:46 p.m
Professional cyclist Max Walscheid survives a training accident in which he is hit by a car with “unbelievable luck”. He falls over the car and flies meters through the air. But while the bike was destroyed, Walscheid was miraculously diagnosed in the hospital with only bruises.
Professional cyclist Max Walscheid (Neuwied) was hit head-on by a car during training and obviously narrowly escaped a tragic accident. “I was incredibly lucky to survive this accident,” said the sprinter in a statement from his team Cofidis: “Even though we haven’t taken all the X-rays yet, I obviously don’t have any broken bones.”
The 28-year-old said he was driving on “a quiet road in perfect conditions” when an oncoming car suddenly swooped in his direction. “I fell over the car and flew a few meters further, fortunately in the ditch and not on the asphalt,” said Walscheid: “My bike was completely destroyed, ten meters away.”
Walscheid was taken to Neuwied hospital by helicopter and “had to spend the night under observation”. On Friday, the examinations should continue, with a focus on the head and the respiratory tract. Although the German escaped without breaking any bones, his planned starts at the Tour of Flanders and the Scheldeprijs are now unlikely. “Get well soon Max!” Wrote his team on Twitter.
“I’m glad I’m still alive”
Walscheid has suffered many bruises. “I still can’t believe I got through that without much worse wounds,” said the two-time Tour de France participant: “At the same time, it’s very tough because I had good results and saw the potential to do even more achieve. But what I’m most happy about today is that I’m still alive.”
Walscheid’s accident is the latest example of the everyday dangers that professional cyclists face on their training rides. Egan Bernal’s horrific fall in January once again sadly showed how dangerous the open road is.
Walscheid had recently been in top form. The German sprint specialist had first won the Grand Prix de Denain and fought for second place at Nokere Koerse, only to just miss the podium at the Belgian one-day race Minerva Classic from Bruges to De Panne on Wednesday. There he finished fourth after 207.9 kilometers.