Race favourite Remco Evenepoel was taken to hospital after crashing over a bridge before plunging several metres down into a ravine in a horrifying accident yesterday at the Tour of Lombardy, the one-day classic won by Denmark’s Jakob Fuglsang.
Belgian Evenepoel, 20, lost control on the steep descent from the Colma di Sormano that leads to the race finish at Lake Como, hitting a parapet and plunging six metres over the bridge. The Deceuninck-QuickStep rider was taken to the Sant-Anna hospital in Como.
“We want to reassure everyone,” said Deceuninck-QuickStep sporting director Davide Bramati. “For now we can say that Remco only has a severe bruise on his right leg, but we are waiting for the test results.”
Fuglsang, 35, crossed the line alone after the 231km race from Bergamo to Como, finishing 31 seconds ahead of New Zealand’s George Bennett, riding for Jumbo-Visma. The Dane’s Russian Astana teammate Aleksandr Vlasov was third at 51sec. “George Bennett told me while we were riding that Remco had fallen,” said Fuglsang. “I hope he’s okay, it’s not the way you want the race to finish for anyone.”
Photographs showed Evenepoel conscious but grimacing in pain before being evacuated by ambulance, some 20 minutes after his fall, wearing a neck brace. The young rider had been among a group of seven at the top of the Wall of Sormano, about fifty kilometres from the finish line.
The descent was at high speed with Evenepoel losing control under pressure from two-time race winner Vincenzo Nibali of Italy. Evenepoel was favourite to win his first ‘Monument’ classic after claiming four stage race wins in the Tour de San Juan, Tour of the Algarve, Tour de Burgos and the Tour of Poland where he also took overall victory last weekend.
It was the second serious crash in just over a week for the Deceuninck-Quick Step team with Dutch rider Fabio Jakobsen badly injured in a horrifying fall on the opening day of the Tour of Poland. Jakobsen was placed in a medically-induced coma but returned home to the Netherlands this week after undergoing surgery.
Meanwhile, German rider Maximilian Schachmann was struck by a car a few kilometres from the finish line on Saturday but managed to get back in the saddle despite a shoulder injury with the Bora-Hansgrohe rider finishing seventh.
The ‘Race of the Falling Leaves’ which is normally held in October, took place in the heat of August because of the rescheduled calendar. Starting in Bergamo, the epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic in Italy, with over 16,000 deaths in the Lombardy region, a minute’s silence was observed before the race started.
After Evenepoel’s fall, six riders battled for victory. But Fuglsang attacked on the final climb towards San Fermo della Battaglia denying Bennett a second win this week after the GranPiemonte. “I knew I had a good chance today,” said Fuglsang after his second ‘Monument’ win after the Liege-Bastogne-Liege last year. “It’s never easy to win and you need to be lucky to be in the right place at the right time.”
Bennett added: “I can’t help but feel disappointed. I really thought I could win today.”
Defending champion Bauke Mollema of the Netherlands finished fourth. Nibali, winner in 2015 and 2017, finished sixth with reigning Giro d’Italia winner Richard Carapaz of Ecuador 13th at 8min 15sec.
Astana Pro Team Denmark rider Jakob Fuglsang (left) rides during the 114th edition of the giro di Lombardia (Tour of Lombardy), a 231km cycling race from Bergamo to Como, Italy, yesterday. (AFP)
