Belgian Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel was left scratching his head after a nasty crash at the Criterium du Dauphine.
The Paris 2024 two-time gold medallist was competing at arguably the biggest one-week event of the year when he hit the deck in painful scenes in France.
YouTube: Florian BarlettaEvenepoel was left head over heels in scary scenes[/caption] Thankdully there wasn’t any solid contact on the riderYouTube: Florian Barletta He was able to dust himself off and continueYouTube: Florian BarlettaBroadcast cameras failed to pick up the moment, but fan footage has since shown him losing his bike after a roundabout in a massive pack of riders.
Evenepoel’s slide across the tarmac was abruptly stopped by a fan barrier and thankfully the majority of the dozens of riders behind managed to avoid him.
The 25-year-old needed a minute to collect himself before recycling his chain and getting back on his bike to continue.
Speaking after the stage five incident, he seemed to take the blame for the crash, saying: “I actually have no idea what happened.
“I took the roundabout and suddenly I was on the ground. Did my chain come off or did I slide off my shifters because of my wet hands?
“No idea, but fortunately nothing serious happened.
“Apart from a few bruises, I won’t be left with anything. I’m confident that this won’t cause any problems for the coming days. There are guys who fell more heavily today.”
Despite the shock incident, Evenepoel lost no time in the classification as it happened in the final three kilometres of the stage.
The Belgian maintained his point lead and therefore the leader’s yellow jersey ahead of the last three days of racing.
A day later on Friday he lost the jersey to Tadej Pogacar who dominated a short but hilly stage ahead of Dane Jonas Vingegaard.
Evenepoel is part of a new elite group in cyclingAFP Rival Pogacar is becoming a megastarAFPThat pair, plus Evenepoel and Dutchman Mathieu van der Poel, are being compared to legendary tennis quartet Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.
Seen as cycling’s ‘big four’, they’re all at the peak of their powers and seeking a Criterium du Dauphine victory – the prelude to the biggest event of the year – the Tour de France on July 5.
Pogacar is a three-time winner of Le Tour and current champion, with Vingegaard a two-time winner who’s on the comeback trail after a major crash in 2024 left him hospitalised.
Another top talent, Australian Michael Matthews, has had to pull out of the event of the year as his team revealed he’s suffering with a pulmonary embolism [blood clot of the lungs].
“As a precautionary measure, they have subsequently decided to suspend all physical activities of the cyclist until further notice,” his team Jayco AlUla wrote on their website.
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