Jonas Vingegaard suffers broken collarbone and ribs after “terrible” accident in the Basque Country – Firstpost
Jonas Vingegaard, double Tour de France champion, fractured his collarbone and several ribs after a terrible fall during the fourth stage of the Tour of the Basque Country on Thursday.
“It was a terrible fall but fortunately he is in a stable and conscious condition,” his Visma-Lease a Bike team reported on X.
“Tests carried out at the hospital revealed that he suffered a broken collarbone and several ribs. He remains under surveillance in hospital,” the team added on the social media platform.
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Between the caídos, Primoz Roglic, Remco Evenepoel, Quinten Hermans and Jonas Vingegaard
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– Itzulia Basque Country (@ehitzulia) April 4, 2024
Belgian ace Remco Evenepoel is another to emerge battered and bruised from the horrific accident.
“Remco will return to Belgium tomorrow to be operated on for a broken collarbone and to undergo other examinations at the Herentals hospital,” announced his Soudal-Quick Step team.
His injuries ruled him out of the upcoming one-day classics in the Netherlands and Belgium.
Other big names involved in the crash who were taken to hospital were Jay Vine and Steff Cras, while Primoz Roglic was also involved and did not finish the stage.
“On the radio we heard that Jonas was involved in a big accident,” Visma sports director Addy Engels said. “We saw right away that it didn’t look good when we got to his house.”
Despite the severity of Vingegaard’s injuries, it was almost a relief to know they weren’t more serious.
Several of the 12 riders involved in the accident fell into a concrete ditch after sliding on a bend about 35 kilometers from the finish between Etxarri Aranatz and Legutio, in northern Spain.
2022 and 2023 Tour de France winner Vingegaard was carried to an ambulance on a stretcher, while Belgian Evenepoel walked but his team Soudal Quick Step confirmed he was also going to hospital.
“Jonas is conscious and will now be examined at the hospital,” Visma said at the scene.
” Thank you for your messages. More updates later,” they added of their 27-year-old star who won the Basque Tour last year.
Last week, Visma rider Wout van Aert suffered identical injuries in another serious crash during the Dwars door Vlaanderen one-day race.
Roglic, who also abandoned the race, gave a thumbs up to the television cameras while sitting in the Bora-Hansgrohe team car, to show he was not seriously injured.
UAE Team Emirates said its Australian driver Vine was also taken to hospital but was conscious and speaking, along with TotalEnergies team driver Cras.
The accident occurred on the descent of Alto de Olaeta after a rider at the front of the peloton slid off the road on a right turn.
“Horrified by the accident we witnessed today. Our team was spared, but we sympathize with those who were caught,” the Decathlon-AG2R team said on X.
“We can only hope that all the riders involved are not injured too seriously.”
“Stage times are not counted”
A six-man breakaway was allowed to continue trying to take the stage victory into the final 18 kilometers, with Louis Meintjes crossing the line first.
“The race is neutralized until the finish line, the six leading riders will compete in the stage but the stage times will not be taken into account for the general classification,” indicated the organizers of the race.
“The peloton will remain neutral until the finish line.”
Meintjes finished ahead of second-placed Reuben Thompson and third-placed Vacek Karel.
“That’s not how you want to win… if there had been a challenge during the breakaways, I would have been ready to fight for the stage,” said South African rider Meintjes. Intermarche-Wanty, at Eurosport.
“(What happened) is unfortunate, it takes away the fun, it may be a victory but it doesn’t look like it.
Earlier on Thursday, Roglic’s teammate Lennard Kamna was in a “stable condition” in intensive care after colliding with a car during training in Tenerife.
Roglic, who also crashed on Wednesday’s third stage but quickly recovered, led in the general classification by seven seconds ahead of Evenepoel at the start of the race on Thursday.
The fifth and penultimate stage on Friday will stretch 175.9km north, from Vitoria-Gasteiz to Amorebieta-Etxano.
