Jonas Vingegaard’s defence of his Tour de France crown was potentially hit by a horror crash on stage four of the Tour of the Basque Country, which also caught out fellow stars Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic.
Vingegaard, the two-time Tour winner, appeared to be the worst off among the big-name trio, with the Danish rider remaining on the ground for a long time after the crash. Television pictures later showed the 27-year-old on a stretcher being loaded into an ambulance. His team, Visma-Lease a Bike, released an update later on Thursday saying that he was conscious and was being examined in hospital.
The race had already seen big-name withdrawals, with British riders Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers) and Ben Tulett (Visma-Lease a Bike) and Frenchman David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) among those heading home early.
The latest incident happened with under 40km to go of stage four, on a sweeping right-hand bend on a descent. Around a dozen riders were caught out with some sliding out into what appeared to be a concrete drainage ditch. Others went straight past them, unable to stop.
As well as the aforementioned trio, Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates), Sean Quinn (EF Education-EasyPost), Alexander Cepeda and Natnael Tesfatsion (Lidl-Trek) were all involved.
The race was neutralised as a result, with all of the event’s ambulances involved in attending to the casualties.
It remains to be seen how serious the injuries are. Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) was pictured holding his collarbone but was able to walk away, while Roglic (Bora-Hansgrohe) was shown on the ground talking to medical staff.
Visma-Lease a Bike later posted on X: “Update: Jonas is conscious and will be examined in the hospital now. Thank you for your messages. More updates later.”
Evenepoel was also confirmed as abandoning the six-stage race, while Vine and Quinn were also reported to be heading to hospital.
This year’s Tour de France starts in Florence on June 29, a little earlier than usual due to the Paris Olympics. It will finish in Nice rather than the French capital this year.
Article courtesy of
Source link
