BARCELONA – Two-time Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard suffered lung damage during a horrific mass crash in the Tour of the Basque Country race, his team said on April 5.
The injuries pose a question mark over Vingegaard’s hopes of recording a third successive Tour de France triumph this summer, with the race beginning on June 29 in Florence, Italy.
The Danish rider, 27, was taken to hospital after the crash on April 4 in the fourth stage of the race and initially diagnosed with a broken collarbone and several broken ribs.
However, his team Visma-Lease a Bike issued an update on the morning of April 5 saying the injuries were far more serious than that.
“Further examination in the hospital revealed that he also suffered a pulmonary contusion and pneumothorax,” they said.
“He is stable and had a good night. He remains in hospital.”
The horror crash occurred with around 35 kilometres to go in the run from Etxarri Aranatz to Legutio.
Other stars were involved in the crash include Remco Evenepoel, who suffered a broken collarbone, and Primoz Roglic, who abandoned the race but did not suffer any fracture.
Evenepoel, the reigning time trial world champion who is targeting a Tour de France podium spot and success at the Paris Olympics, said: “Obviously, my plans for the short future will change.
“But I hope and think my long-term goals will not change. Everything should be OK with that.”
Vingegaard, who won the 2022 and 2023 editions of the Tour de France, was put into a neck brace and given breathing aid, spending several minutes prone in a safety position before being taken into an ambulance on a stretcher.
Last week, Visma rider and 2023 road race world championships silver medallist Wout van Aert suffered similar injuries in another bad crash at the Around Flanders one-day race.
Road race world champion Mathieu van der Poel said on April 5 that when it comes to race safety, he feels that riders are the main danger.
“I think the most dangerous part of cycling is the riders themselves,” the Dutchman told a press conference ahead of his April 7 Paris Roubaix title defence.
“We take the risks and that’s the main problem, everyone wants to be at the front in the same place and it’s not possible.
“We can change a lot of things to make it better, but it’s never going to be completely secure.”
However, the president of French professional cyclists’ union (UNCP) on April 4 called on the UCI, the world governing body, to take “responsibility” for making the sport a safer place.
Pascal Chanteur said he was “angry” about the recent spate of high speed crashes.
“Do we have to wait for the umpteenth death? For a rider to have both legs cut off and lose his life, so that people become aware? If that’s the idea, we’re not far off,” said Chanteur.
“I’m not saying that the UCI is responsible but they do have a responsibility to take the full measure of our recommendations to make progress on safety.
“For example, we’re perfectly capable of reducing speeds by changing tyres.
“Why can Formula One do it and we can’t?
“We’re the only sport that doesn’t know how to adapt, and we’re still killing people.” REUTERS, AFP
