"Completely hunched over and extremely pale," say bystanders about heavily injured Evenepoel

The accident happened in Oetingen, Flemish Brabant. Evenepoel reportedly collided with a van, crashing hard to the ground. The van's door apparently swung open just as Evenepoel passed by. The Belgian rider was conscious and was later carried into the ambulance on a stretcher.

It is not yet clear how the accident occurred. This morning, the Soudal Quick-Step leader's new book was already in the news. People who saw it happening told their story to VTM. "Evenepoel was approaching Kerkplein when a Bpost van stopped and opened his door. Remco could not avoid the door anymore and hit it full-on. His bike was completely broken in two," one man said.

Evenepoel's wife, Oumi, came to the scene after the accident, where her husband's broken bicycle was folded up in the trunk. 'Remco was as pale as my wife's apron. He sat on a chair for a while before being carried away by ambulance. For Remco, this must be devastating. How I saw him sitting here, all hunched over and extremely pale. You could see from his face that he was really in a lot of pain," it continued

The woman who had swung the door open was reportedly 'devastated.' The van's door frame was also bent. Remco was moving fast. It goes downhill a bit here. During the Gooikse Pijl, 70 kilometers per hour are reached here. He probably didn't ride that fast today, but in full descent, that will have been easily at 40 kilometers per hour anyway.

Meanwhile, Evenepoel's father reacted to Belgian media. "We are still on our way, but we don't know much more ourselves," father Patrick Evenepoel revealed. "He was taken to the Erasmus Hospital in Anderlecht. He sent us a message already, so we hope everything is okay."

Patrick Lefevere, team boss of Soudal Quick-Step, also commented on the accident at Sporza. "It's better that his bike is in two than his arm. I only know that someone opened a van door, and Remco crashed into it. Someone who knows our team soigneur, David Geeroms, saw it all happen. That's how we found out. Unfortunately, Such accidents happen 5 times per day, with people not paying attention and opening their door. Remco has pain in his shoulder and his hand. Our doctor is working on it," Lefevere said.