At the end of the broadcast, late Thursday afternoon, a few things could be known: Louis Meintjes won the neutralized stage, Mattias Skjelmose took the overall lead, while Vingegaard, Vine and Steff Cras, who was lying with bleeding legs, were also taken to the hospital. All three were conscious, communicating with the doctors and the team leader in the ambulance.
The Visma | Lease a Bike reported at 19:59 that Vingegaard is fortunately still conscious and in a stable condition. During the tests, it was revealed that several of his ribs and his left collarbone were broken, and he remains in the hospital in Vitoria as a precaution.
Vine was found to have broken three vertebrae (one cervical and two thoracic vertebrae), fortunately without nerve damage, awaiting an orthopedic examination. Cras’s condition is the worst: two of his ribs were broken, his vertebrae were also damaged, his lung was punctured, and he had to be treated with internal bleeding. He will definitely spend the next few days in the hospital.
Regarding Evenepoel, it was established that his right clavicle and right scapula were also broken. He will be taken to Belgium on Friday, he will have surgery in Herentals, he will definitely have to miss the Ardennes one-dayers. Roglič traveled to the tests sitting in the team car, he suffered superficial injuries and bruises, mostly on his right leg and on the right side of his body, there are no fractures.
Apart from them, Sean Quinn and Natnael Tesfatsion gave up the race due to the fall. Nothing was broken for Tesfatsion, the trekker, and there was no news about Quinn until late Thursday evening – it is interesting that the latter’s teammate, Jefferson Cepeda, sat on the ground for several minutes in vain, but continued and finished the stage.
Meintjes won the stage, which will be remembered for the mass crash
Skjelmose didn’t wear the yellow jersey on the podium out of respect, he just held it in his hand.
“This is a very sad day for our sport. I wish everyone the best and a speedy recovery. There was a battle for positions on the downhill, they took the corner too fast, there was nothing to do. Now I’m not thinking about the complex or the competition, but about those who are in the hospital.”
Quinten Hermans, winner of Wednesday’s stage in the green jersey, was also involved in the fall, who was finally able to continue.
“I was able to avoid it, I drove into the bush, where the very first fallen competitors were. I am one of the lucky ones. I fell, I didn’t hit myself that hard. I’ve had enough crashes, it’s never pleasant, I tried to look as little as possible to see who happened to what happened… The beginning of the turn was a bit bumpy, and a couple of them didn’t want to brake, so we arrived at too high a speed. I can’t say that the corner was too dangerous, we just pushed it really hard, we’re really pushing the limits.”
It’s not just one-day events at Alpecin
Several people from the field who escaped the fall also spoke.
Juan Ayuso: “We need to improve in terms of safety, but don’t forget: cycling will always be dangerous. Anything can happen at any time, yesterday for example I had a big fall on a straight. Unfortunately, the appeal of the race was lost today, as the best had to give up. Get well soon for everyone!”
Pello Bilbao: “I hope everyone recovers and gets out of the hospital as soon as possible, because it was all very ugly and scary. We had the illusion that we could compete against the best in the world, and here comes one like this… It is clear that we ourselves are the cause of the danger, because this year’s route did not seem complicated, although this corner was really a bit dangerous.”
Milan Vader, the Visma competitor who was almost the first to reach Vingegaard: “Fortunately, I stayed back a little before the fall, maybe it was an intuition. I saw that everyone was suddenly lying down, including Jonas. I had a hard time seeing it because what I saw didn’t look good. I could only think of one thing: to see Jonas. I’m glad you’re here.”
On Thursday evening, Evenepoel announced in the Soudal-Quick Step video: he really has to miss the one-day races in the Ardennes, but his Tour start is not in danger.
“Obviously this fall will change my plans for the near future, but I hope and believe that my long-term goals will be fine. I thank all the doctors and wish the best to all the guys who fell. I hope to see you all again at the races soon. .”
Tadej Pogačar sent a message to the injured on Twitter:
“In cycling, we never want to see crashes. Unfortunately, we had a very nasty crash today. I wish my teammate Jay and all my competitors a speedy recovery!”
More breaking news in the coverage of Stage 5 of the Basque Circuit, Friday from 15:30 on Eurosport 1.
