Jonas Vingegaard lay motionless on the ground next to a concrete ditch for minutes before he was taken on a stretcher to an ambulance. A few meters away, Remco Evenepoel was holding his collarbone and Primoz Roglic was limping across the asphalt with his face contorted in pain. In a dramatic fall on the fourth stage of the Tour of the Basque Country on Thursday, the three cycling stars, all of whom want to fight for overall victory at the Tour de France in July, and other riders apparently sustained serious injuries.
The pictures of Tour champion Vingegaard caused the greatest concern. The Dane rushed into the ditch in the right-hand bend almost without braking. A few hours after the accident, his team Visma-Lease gave at least a slight all-clear: Vingegaard was “stable and conscious” and further examinations would be carried out in the hospital. These ultimately revealed a broken collarbone and several broken ribs, as the Dutch racing team said later in the evening Vingegaard remains in the hospital “as a precautionary measure.”
Chain reaction in a right-hand bend
Evenepoel was also taken to the hospital. The Belgian time trial world champion initially maneuvered around the ditch cleverly, but then fell on the grass. Giro winner Roglic, who was wearing the yellow jersey, was at least able to leave the scene of the accident in the team car of the German Bora-hansgrohe racing team. He gave a thumbs up as he left. The Slovenian was only involved in a crash on Wednesday. According to initial information from the organizers, both suffered a broken collarbone.
The crash occurred around 35 kilometers from the finish in Legutio in a right-hand bend. Natnael Tesfatsion from Eritrea was the first rider to slip, then around a dozen other riders fell. In addition to Vingegaard, the Australian Jay Vine also had it worse.
The professional cyclist was conscious, his UAE team said. Several ambulances were at the scene of the accident. The race was then neutralized and the remaining drivers drove towards the finish at a slow pace.
Many drivers use the Basque Country Tour as preparation for the big tours in the summer. Of the best tour riders in the world, only two-time Tour winner Tadej Pogacar was not at the start.
Kämna in intensive care
Cycling was once again overshadowed by a bad crash just around a week after the serious fall of Belgian star Wout van Aert. The Belgian suffered several broken ribs and a broken collarbone in the semi-classic Across Flanders at the end of March. Van Aert will be out for weeks.
In addition, a training accident involving German professional Lennard Kämna on Wednesday in Tenerife shocked the German Bora team. The 27-year-old from Bremen suffered numerous injuries, but is in a stable condition, his racing team said.
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“He is awake, responsive and able to communicate. (…) He is receiving very good care in the hospital in Tenerife and will be monitored in the intensive care unit in the coming days. Members of the family and the team are with him,” it said. According to the German racing team, an oncoming vehicle gave way to Kämna when turning.
