Amstel Gold Race medical bulletin: Fractures after major crash involving Evenepoel and others, Astana takes big hit with five abandonments

With about 110 kilometers to go, a major crash occurred just after exiting Mechelen. At the time, there was no live footage, and the information provided was limited, initial reports only mentioned Wout van Aert, Thibau Nys, and Remco Evenepoel as being involved. However, it later became clear that many more riders had hit the ground, as confirmed by data on Strava: nearly 50 riders were delayed in that downhill section. That doesn't mean they all crashed, but it was evident that more than just the Belgian riders were affected.

Evenepoel stated during the post-race press conference that his elbow took quite a hit. It was visibly bruised and bloodied. “Fortunately, I wasn’t going too fast at that moment because I already sensed something was coming. I did a slow somersault, but I immediately felt that it wasn’t too bad. The guys behind me fell much harder,” he said. One of those was his teammate Pepijn Reinderink, who had already crashed earlier in the race. According to an update from Soudal Quick-Step, the Dutchman suffered a broken collarbone.

A broken collarbone, it's the most common injury for a professional cyclist. But Natnael Tesfatsion would probably wish he had been that lucky. He also crashed during the Dutch WorldTour race, and the damage turned out to be severe. The Eritrean rider from Movistar was taken to UMC+ hospital, where scans revealed two fractures in his right shoulder blade. He was scheduled to race Eschborn-Frankfurt in early May, but the climber-sprinter will now have to skip the German one-day race.

The worst luck, however, hit the camp of XDS Astana. “A day to forget,” they said afterward. Out of seven starters, only two made it to the finish; the rest had to abandon early. Darren van Bekkum, Clément Champoussin, Ide Schelling, and Christian Scaroni all crashed, with the latter taking the hardest fall. No fractures were found after examination, but he did suffer abrasions and bruises to his hip, elbow, and wrist. Cofidis' Dutch rider Jan Maas also had a rough day. He crashed hard on his head but thankfully didn’t suffer any fractures. He did require stitches, including on his ear. “Van Gogh-light,” he joked on Instagram.

Arkéa–B&B Hotels had pinned their hopes on the climbing abilities of Kévin Vauquelin on Sunday, the same rider who finished second in last year’s La Flèche Wallonne. But the Frenchman was among those caught up in the major crash that also involved Van Aert, Evenepoel, and Nys. “The crash inevitably caused chaos for us,” said team director Mickaël Leveau in a press release. “Kévin managed to get back into the peloton thanks to his teammates, but due to the pain and shock, he lost contact again and had to abandon.” Red Bull–BORA–hansgrohe was also affected: both Tim van Dijke and Maxim Van Gils had to withdraw from the race. Their condition is not yet known, but the damage was clearly visible.

There were also several crashes in the women’s race. Demi Vollering hit the deck with about 100 kilometers to go, crashing just before the Bergseweg. “There are crashes there every year,” she sighed. “It goes slightly uphill and then downhill, with those center islands. The signage is really poor, too low. They should make it taller. If you’re in the middle or back of the peloton, you just can’t see it coming. My foot is still tingling a bit and I think I twisted it, but we’ll check that tonight.” As of now, there is no further news about a possible injury for the Dutch rider.