Belgian cyclist breaks pelvis in dramatic fall from bridge

Belgian cyclist Remco Evenepoel crashed against the wall of a bridge during the Tour of Lombardy at the weekend and somersaulted over the side into the ravine beneath. The dramatic crash shocked spectators, commentators and officials at the race in the north of Italy.

The 20-year old cyclist with Belgium’s Deceuninck-QuickStep team was conscious when rescue workers got to him. He was taken to hospital with a broken pelvis and a pulmonary contusion, or bruising of the lung. He is in stable condition but will not be able to race this season again.

Evenepoel was a favourite to win the Monument race, having already won four major road races this year: the Tour of the Algarve, the Vuelta a Burgos, the Vuelta a San Juan in Argentina and the Tour of Poland. He also won last year’s Tour of Belgium.

The young cyclist was on the Sormano descent when he hit the edge of the bridge wall, which is not even with the crash barriers on either side of the bridge. A video of the crash (above) shows how easily such an accident could happen during a high pressure road race.

The descent from the hill known as the Wall of Sormano is in fact notorious for accidents. Just three years ago, two Belgian cyclists – Laurens De Plus and Jan Bakelants – also flew over crash barriers on the same descent. While De Plus escaped serious injury, Bakelants fell further and had to undergo emergency back surgery.

It’s not just Belgians, of course, who have crashed on the Wall of Sormano over the years. “The question is, if it’s so dangerous, why doesn’t the Tour of Lombardy organisers do something to improve safety, like add protective padding?” said VRT sports reporter Kristof Meul, on the scene in Lombardy. “These are questions that really ned to be asked because safety during road races is once again in the spotlight.”

Deceuninck-QuickStep announced that Evenepoel was transferred home to Belgium by special air transport today.

Photo ©LaPresse/BELGA