Cycling: Vingegaard evacuated on a stretcher after a heavy fall involving Evenepoel and Roglic at the Tour of the Basque Country
The fourth stage of the Tour of the Basque Country was marked by a serious fall on the descent of the Col d’Olaeta, Thursday April 4, which resulted in several favorites of the race and of the Tour de France this summer. Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-LAB), Primoz Roglic (Bora-Hansgrohe), Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quickstep) but also several other riders. The Dane, double winner from the Grande Boucle, was evacuated on a stretcher. The Eritrean Natnael Tesfatsion (Lidl-Trek) was the first to fall in the bend, 36 kilometers from the finish. It dragged many runners with it, in a sloping section with rocks at the side of the road, framed by wastewater drains at the exit of the bend.
In addition to Jonas Vingegaard, evacuated on a stretcher and under respiratory assistance according to images from the broadcaster, Primoz Roglic also threw in the towel by getting into his sports director’s car. Remco Evenepoel got up with his shoulder immobilized and was taken to hospital for further examinations. Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) also fell heavily and retired. The collective fall occurred when a breakaway of six riders had a lead of almost two minutes over the peloton. After the race was neutralized, the organization decided to let these breakaways compete for victory, and to stop the race for the peloton.
The race has been punctuated since its start by numerous falls, like that of Primoz Roglic on Wednesday, who was finally able to leave and rejoin the peloton. Frenchman David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) had also given up on starting the second stage after a fall on the first day, while his teammate Romain Grégoire had a minor fall in the final of the same stage.
- For more: Elrisala website and for social networking, you can follow us on Facebook
- Source of information and images “svoboda“
