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Cycling world in mourning after death of Belgian cyclist Bjorg Lambrecht in Poland

11:22 06/08/2019

Belgian cyclist Bjorg Lambrecht died after crashing during the Tour de Pologne race on Monday. Following his heavy fall, the 22-year-old was revived at the scene, but died later in hospital.

Lambrecht fell into a canal during the third stage of the eight-stage road cycle race in Poland, where he hit a concrete culvert. He was air-lifted to hospital, where he later succumbed to internal injuries.

“He had serious injuries to his head, chest and abdominal cavity,” said Ryszard Wisniewski, the race’s official physician. “These injuries caused both heart and respiratory arrest.”

Ghent-born Lambrecht made his professional debut in 2018 with Belgian team Lotto Soudal. He was considered a strong up-and-coming rider, with a talent for climbing in particular, achieving second place finishes in the UCI Road World Under-23 championships and the Tour des Fjords.

Lotto Soudal said on confirming his death: “The greatest tragedy possible that could arise for the family, friends and teammates of Bjorg has happened… Rest in peace Bjorg.”

“I haven’t found the words yet because they don’t exist,” tweeted team manager Marc Sergeant yesterday evening an hour after the announcement of Lambrecht’s death. “I am so confused about the loss of Bjorg Lambrecht, such pain for his family and friends and for us as a family at Lotto Soudal. Stay strong is easily said, but it’s so hard and unfair.”

The team tweeted on Tuesday that as a tribute to Lambrechts, Lotto Soudal would be taking the start in the neutralised stage four of the race today.

Photo: Bjorg Lambrecht pictured last year at the Tour of Spain
©Yuzuru Sunada/BELGA

Flanders Today

Comments

RedDevil

:-(

Aug 6, 2019 12:42