2024-04-04 16:10:12
The 4th stage of the Tour of the Basque Country was neutralized on Thursday after a serious fall including several riders, including Primoz Roglic, Remco Evenepoel and Jonas Vingegaard. The double winner of the Tour de France was evacuated on a stretcher with respiratory assistance. According to a message posted on X by his Visma-Lease a bike team, he is “conscious” and will “take exams”.
Published on: 04/04/2024 – 18:10
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Chilling images which recall the fatal fall of Gino Mäder on the Tour de Suisse in 2023. The two-time reigning winner of the Tour de France was hospitalized on Thursday April 4, after a very serious fall which also involved Primoz Roglic and Remco Evenepoel, during of the 4th stage of the Tour of the Basque Country.
The Dane was placed in a lateral safety position by the emergency services, before being evacuated on a stretcher with respiratory assistance and a neck brace, according to television images. A few minutes later, his Visma-Lease a Bike team indicated that he was “conscious” and was going to undergo examinations at the hospital.
🇪🇸 #Back2024
Update: Jonas is conscious and will be examined in the hospital now. Thank you for your messages. More updates later.
— Team Visma | Lease a Bike (@vismaleaseabike) April 4, 2024
Also read: Jonas Vingegaard, from the fish market to the yellow jersey
The accident took place on a downhill bend around thirty kilometers from the finish. Several riders skidded towards the shoulder and hit stone blocks and a concrete drain. Roglic, who wore the leader’s yellow jersey, and Evenepoel got up after the accident, but Roglic left the scene of the accident by car.
The Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a bike) and Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) teams quickly announced their abandonment on their social networks. Both riders were transported to a hospital.
Another runner, the Australian Jay Vine, remained motionless on the ground for a very long time, taken care of by emergency services. His team also announced that he had been taken to hospital.
The organizers neutralized the race to allow emergency services to intervene. The decision was to restart it for the six riders who had escaped who will compete for the stage victory while for the peloton, the general classification would be frozen.
A series of serious falls since the start of the season
This fall comes on top of a series of dramatic crashes this spring in cycling races. Last Wednesday, Wout Van Aert was notably caught in a collective fall across Flanders.
Polytraumatized, the Belgian champion suffered burns to his back and especially fractures to his collarbone, ribs and sternum, signaling the end of his dream of winning the Tour of Flanders or Paris-Roubaix on Sunday.
On Wednesday, Roglic and Ayuso had already been caught in a relatively violent fall in the Tour of the Basque Country, but they returned to the race.
With AFP
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