Horror crash at Itzulia takes out Tour de France contenders
Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel and Primož Roglič now face a battle to get their seasons back on track
The casualty list at Itzulia Basque Country last week read like a cycling’s Who’s Who. Tom Pidcock was the first to withdraw from the stage race, after crashing on a recon of the opening stage TT. The Ineos Grenadiers rider came off lightly though, and was able to start Parisroubaix. Others fared less well.
On a fast sweeping right-hand bend on stage four of the race, Natnael Tesfatsion (Lidl-trek) lost control of his bike and slid out, creating a chain reaction behind which saw three of the biggest names in the sport hit the deck. It wasn’t so much the initial impact which caused so much damage, but the concrete drainage ditch into which they slid at speed.
Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-quickstep) was the first to be impacted, but the Belgian champion managed to bunny-hop the ditch, only to hit a tree. He broke his collarbone and shoulder blade.
Behind, Jonas Vingegaard (Vismalease a Bike) and Primož Roglič (Borahansgrohe) were less lucky, arriving at speed into the concrete culvert.
The former, the Danish Tour de France champion, suffered potentially seasonaltering injuries in the crash. Vingegaard, who remained motionless on the floor for a significant amount of time, broke his collarbone, several ribs and had a collapsed lung. His plans for a defence of his Tour crown remain up in the air as a result.
Roglič, meanwhile, had crashed for the second time in four stages, but
“Vingegaard broke his collarbone and several ribs”
the Slovenian escaped serious injury, sustaining bruising and road rash.
It takes around six to eight weeks to recover from broken ribs and collarbones, but it isn’t so much the time away from racing, as the time lost for training which will concern the three favourites for the Tour. In a video message, Evenepoel said his “long term goals”, including the Tour, would not be impacted.
Jonas on the mend
Vingegaard was described as getting “a little bit better every day” by Richard Plugge, his team boss, but it will take a couple of weeks for the true extent of his injuries and the impact of them on his season to be properly assessed.
Around 12 riders were caught up in the incident, and 11 riders didn’t finish the day. The most serious injuries were to Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates), who suffered a cervical and two thoracic spine vertebral body fractures, while Steff Cras (Totalenergies) also came away with a collapsed lung, broken ribs and two fractured vertebrae.
Vine avoided needing surgery, but his team said that he would “be in a neck brace for up to six weeks”. Tesfatsion suffered no breaks, but numerous abrasions and didn’t continue in the race.