A cycling champion was rushed to hospital after a mass pileup at the Tour of the Basque Country bike race on Thursday.
Several riders slid off a corner in the final stages of the run from Etxarri Aranatz to Legutio and fell into a concrete ditch.
Danish two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard was carried away on a stretcher with an oxygen mask and a neck brace. Vingegaard had won last year’s edition of the race.
“Jonas is on his way to the hospital. An update will follow later,” his team Visma-Lease a Bike said on social media.
Belgian cyclist Remco Evenepoel was seen walking but was also taken to hospital, his team confirmed.
Slovenian rider Primoz Roglic also withdrew from the race, but offered a thumbs-up to television cameras to indicate that he was not seriously harmed.
Fourth stage of the race halted
The fourth stage of the Tour of the Basque Country was paused because all available doctors responded to the crash.
The organizers of the race, known locally as the Itzulia, said the remainder of the peloton will ride together to the end of the stage.
However, the six cyclists who were ahead of the crash will be able to compete in a final sprint to the finish line for a partial victory.
“The six leading runners will compete in the stage but the stage times will not be counted for the general classification,” the organizers said.
zc/dj (AFP, EFE, dpa, AP, Reuters)
