Star cyclists Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark and Remco Evenepoel of Belgium broke their collarbones, reigning Tour de France winner Vingegaard a rib and world time trial champion Evenepoel a shoulder blade in a horrific-looking crash on Stage 4 of the Tour of the Basque Country today.
Among the 12 riders involved in the mass accident was the Slovenian Primož Roglič, who, like his two great rivals, with whom he is to fight for the triumph at the “Old Lady” in three months, withdrew from the race.
Third place in the stage was taken by the Czech cyclist Karel Vacek, who was a member of a six-member group of refugees, which was given the opportunity by the race management to fight for victory in a neutralized stage, unlike the peloton.
The mass crash took place less than 40 km before the finish in a sharp right-hand bend, which some riders did not take and went off the road at high speed. Some ran into a concrete ditch and large rocks.
According to television footage, the reigning two-time winner of the Tour de France Vingegaard suffered the worst. He lay motionless on his side for a long time in a stabilized position and after a few minutes of treatment, he was transported on a stretcher to an ambulance with his neck fixed.
“It was a nasty accident, but fortunately Jonas is stable and conscious. Examinations at the hospital revealed that he has a broken collarbone and several ribs. He will remain hospitalized as a precaution,” the Dane’s Visma-Lease and Bike team said on social network X.
Unlike Vingegaard, Roglič and Evenepoel got up soon after the fall and limped away from the scene of the accident. Belgium champion Evenepoel headed to hospital for an examination which revealed the extent of the injury. “He suffered a fractured right collarbone and right scapula. Remco will travel to Belgium on Friday and undergo clavicle surgery and further examinations at the Herentals hospital,” the Soudal-Quick Step team said on its website.
The current leader of the race, Roglič, who had a fall already on Wednesday, drove away from the scene of the accident in a team car. Slovinec gave the camera a thumbs up in an encouraging gesture. The Bora-hansgrohe stable did not inform about the state of health of its star.
Australian Jay Vine was also involved in the accident, who also lay on the ground for a long time and was transported to the hospital. His team UAE Emirates said the cyclist was conscious and communicating.
The stage was stopped for several dozen minutes after the accident, because all the medical staff had to take care of the injured. After the restart, only six refugees were allowed to race for the stage lead, including Vacka, who was on the run at the time of the carom. The peloton had to go freely to the finish line.
The 23-year-old Vacek from the Spanish team Burgos-BH tore the group apart by starting the climb, shortly after that he was not enough to attack the South African Louis Meintjes, who rode solo to win. Vacek lost to New Zealander Reuben Thompson in the fight for second place. The third position in the WorldTour race is the second best result of the career for the older brother of the national champion Mathias Vack, after last year’s second place in one of the stages of the Giro d’Italia.
“I’m not very fast on the flat and in the sprint, so I had to try it on the hill. I’m glad that I proved that I can keep up with the best on the climb. I fought for the win until the last moment, unfortunately it didn’t work out, but I’m still on podium, which is good for the team,” Vacek told Eurosport.
Due to the neutralization, the time of the stage was not included in the overall order, but due to the withdrawal of the first Roglič and the second Evenepoel, Mattias Skjelmose from Denmark became the new leader.
The race will end on Saturday in Eibar.
