Two-time Tour winner Jonas Vingegaard (Visma | Lease a Bike) was involved in a severe crash during the Tour of the Basque Country on Thursday, alongside Primoz Roglic (BORA-hansgrohe) and Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step), among others. The Dane was treated for a long time before ultimately being transported to the hospital in an ambulance, where the doctors examined him.
Vingegaard lay on his side for a long time after teammates Milan Vader and Steven Kruijswijk immediately recognized the seriousness of the situation. The Dane, who, like many other riders, fell during a descent, was then attended to by ambulance staff before being placed on a stretcher and into an ambulance.
Team manager Addy Engels shared his experience shortly after the crash. "We heard over the radio that Jonas was involved in a major crash. When we got there, we could see immediately that it didn’t look good. Fortunately, he was conscious. Jonas is now being examined in the hospital. We're waiting for that."
Later in the evening, the Dutch team provided an additional medical update: "It was a nasty crash, but fortunately he is stable and conscious. Examinations at the hospital have revealed that he has a broken collarbone and several broken ribs. He remains in hospital as a precaution. Thank you for all your messages."
Sepp Kuss stopped by Eurosport after the race to share his perspective on behalf of the team. "It's hard to say. When I rode through, I hadn't noticed anything yet. But something can happen out of nowhere, as we've seen... some riders stayed with Jonas, but I don't know what happened. I know his condition is stable, but that's about it."
"The decision to neutralize the race, I don’t know how it was made, but when something like this happens, other things are more important," the American continued. "I didn’t see the crash itself, so by the time I got there, everyone was already off the road. I decided not to stop because it was fast and stopping would also be dangerous for me. Other guys were already there, but it's hard to see the fallen riders lying there."
Milan Vader, who had a serious crash in the Basque Country last year, gave a similar reaction to Sporza. "I had a tough time with it. What I saw was not nice. I was only thinking of one thing: to turn around and see how Jonas was doing. I'm glad he's conscious now."
For the condition of the other riders, you can refer to this article, which will be updated as new updates unfold.
🇪🇸 #Itzulia2024 Update on Jonas: It was a nasty crash, but fortunately he is stable and conscious. Examinations at the hospital have revealed that he has a broken collarbone and several broken ribs. He remains in hospital as a precaution. Thank you for all your messages. ❤️
Caída TERRIBLE con Vingegaard, Evenepoel y Roglic implicados 😱 La carrera ha tenido que ser neutralizada porque todas las ambulancias están atendiendo a los corredores afectados La @ehitzulia, en los canales de @Eurosport_ES disponibles en DAZN 🚴🏻♂️
