In the evening, medical bulletins came one after the other, first announcing that Jonas Vingegaard, double winner of the Tour de France, was suffering from a fractured collarbone and several ribs. “It was a terrible fall, but fortunately he is in a stable and conscious condition. He remains under surveillance in hospital,” said his Visma-Lease a bike team.
Evenepoel also has a broken collarbone, as well as his right shoulder blade, and will have surgery on Friday in Belgium, Soudal-Quick Step training said a few minutes later. The Belgian’s Ardennes classics season is already over, including Liège-Bastogne-Liège where he was a double outgoing winner.
“Fortunately, there are no neurological complications or brain damage”
Despite the seriousness of these injuries, which disrupted the season of the Dane and the Belgian three months before the Tour de France, the verdict almost sounds like a relief because the fall was so violent and the images distressing.
Especially for Vingegaard, 27, who was taken to hospital after spending long minutes in a lateral safety position on the side of the road. He was wearing a neck brace and a respiratory support system when he was put into the ambulance on a stretcher.
Evenepoel jumped a ditch and brushed against a tree before crashing onto the side of the road. There too, it could have been even more serious. The Slovenian Primoz Roglic, third big star at the start, also retired. But the Slovenian, who wore the leader’s jersey, left the scene in a car, thumbs up, and “only” suffered abrasions.
Among the eight injured runners, Australian Jay Vine was the one who remained motionless on the ground the longest. He is heavily affected. “He suffers from fractures in his cervical spine and two dorsal vertebrae,” announced Dr. Adriano Rotunno, doctor on his UAE team. “Fortunately there are no neurological complications or brain damage,” he added, specifying that the runner remained under observation in hospital.
The road was bumpy
“Falls are what you never want to see in cycling. Today, unfortunately, we saw a very bad one. I wish a good recovery to my teammate Jay and to all my comrades in the peloton”, reacted Tadej Pogacar who was not in this race.
The accident occurred around thirty kilometers from the finish of this 4th stage which was to take the peloton from Echarri-Aranaz to Legutio. In a turn, going downhill, several riders skidded and hit blocks of stone and a concrete drain.
According to Spanish rider Pello Bilbao, the road at this point had uneven asphalt due to tree roots. “We arrived too quickly. The fall must make us cyclists think, because we are creating danger,” he said. The organizers first suspended the stage. Then the six men who had escaped at the time of the fall were allowed to resume the race, unlike the peloton, which was neutralized.
The South African Louis Meintjes (Intermarché – Wanty) won the stage in Legutio, but the times will not be counted for the general classification. “Given the circumstances, it doesn’t feel like a victory,” he said.
“At the front, when everyone is fighting for positions, if someone misses the turn, anything can happen. These images are difficult to see,” commented Sepp Kuss, Vingegaard’s teammate and winner of the last Vuelta.
A series of accidents
“The road was very bumpy at this point and we arrived a little too quickly. There was nothing to do, I think it’s no one’s fault,” said Dane Mattias Skjelmose. This fall comes on top of a series of serious accidents that occurred this spring in cycling races.
Last Wednesday, Wout Van Aert, teammate of Vingegaard, was notably caught in a collective fall in Across Flanders. Polytraumatized, the Belgian champion suffered burns to his back and above all, like Vingegaard, fractures to his collarbone, ribs and also his sternum.
On Wednesday, Roglic and Ayuso had already been caught in a relatively violent fall in the Tour of the Basque Country, but they returned to the race. “The level is so high today, everyone is fighting to be well positioned and the races are very nervous. That’s cycling,” commented Skjelmose.