Basque Country tour
Breaks at Radstars – Why do Vingegaard and Co. fall?
Jonas Vingegaard and other top stars were involved in a dramatic crash during the Tour of the Basque Country. photo
© Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse/AP/dpa
Cycling stars like Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel break their bones in a mass fall. The causes of the accident are unclear, but there are attempts to explain it.
The cycling stars Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel as well as the Australian Jay Vine suffered 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. As in football, very, very young riders would come into the WorldTour directly from the junior classes and want to prove themselves immediately, said German professional cyclist Nils Politt in an interview with the “Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung”.
“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 and several broken ribs. Belgium’s cycling star Evenepoel suffered a fracture of his shoulder blade in addition to a broken collarbone and requires surgery. Australian Jay Vine suffered an even worse injury with a fractured cervical vertebra and two fractures of the thoracic spine.
Cause unclear – is road damage to blame?
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.
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”.