Broken bones among cyclists spark discussions

The cycling stars Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel as well as the Australian Jay Vine suffered, among other things, serious bone fractures in a mass fall during the Tour of the Basque Country. When looking for the reasons, not only possible road damage but also the increasingly aggressive driving style in the field comes into focus.

Like in football, young riders would come straight from the junior classes into the WorldTour and want to prove themselves immediately, said German professional cyclist Nils Politt in an interview with the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung” (Friday). “In general, the stress level is significantly higher. The races are starting faster and earlier,” said the 30-year-old from Team UAE about the general development in cycling before the classic Paris-Roubaix on Sunday.

On Thursday, numerous riders were involved in a mass crash during the Tour of the Basque Country. The two-time Tour de France winner Vingegaard from Denmark suffered a broken collarbone, several broken ribs and a bruised lung. The 27-year-old also suffered a pneumothorax, where air penetrates the gap between the lung and the chest wall. The lungs are no longer able to expand as before and a life-threatening situation can occur. According to his team, Jumbo Visma, Vingegaard’s condition is stable.

Belgium’s cycling star Evenepoel also suffered a fracture of his shoulder blade in addition to a broken collarbone and needs surgery. Australian Jay Vine suffered an even worse injury with a fractured cervical vertebra and two fractures of the thoracic spine.

The cause of the serious accident had not been clarified as of Thursday evening. This year the route was particularly easy, but there were still many falls, said the Spanish Tour de France stage winner Pello Bilbao after reaching the finish. This should give cyclists pause as they may be the ones causing the danger. “We have to rethink the way we compete a little,” explained the 34-year-old.

Also read:

Arno Wallenborn and the perfect application letter

The newspaper “Mundo Deportivo” and the Spanish professional cyclist Mikel Bizkarra also cited possible road damage as the cause of the devastating accident. There was a gully in the area of ​​the curve, the newspaper wrote. Bizkarra, who drove the Tour of Catalonia in March, pointed out that there were many tree roots under the road on this route that could not be seen. You don’t recognize them at first glance, and if you don’t have a good grip on the handlebars, it’s “easy to fly into the air,” said the 34-year-old, “Diario AS”.