“It really went black before my eyes” - Lars van den Berg gives a chilling account of his crash at the Faun-Ardèche Classic
Cycling
Nearly two weeks on from the Faun-Ardèche Classic, Lars van den Berg is still being monitored by doctors and undergoing tests after he suffered a bizarre incident during the race that caused him to crash with just over 100km to go.
The 25-year-old says that he began to feel unwell before losing consciousness and falling from his bike, as he said on the Cycling Inside podcast that “suddenly I felt very light-headed and I could no longer move my legs”.
He then went on to say that “it really went black before my eyes. Just before I fell, I panicked and thought ‘this is really going wrong’. You don’t realise something like that happens to you and then it happened so quickly. Before you know it, you wake up and there are ten people above you watching. That was quite a shock”.
Van den Berg was lucky to get away with minor injuries, as he said “I came away with a few scrapes, but that was the only thing”. However, the nature of his fall is concerning for the Dutchman’s future, in terms of not only his career, but also his general health and wellbeing.
The Groupama-FDJ rider hopes to return to peloton soon, but is understandably prioritising his health at this time, as he said “I am constantly monitored by the cardiologists. I have undergone several tests and hope to hear more soon. I am positive that I will return, but health comes first now. You want to be 110% fit again before you participate in top sports again”.
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- On a positive note, you maybe notice turning this topic into a discussion has the benefit of eliminating certain participants who do not see how they can turn it back to their sole interest ;-)Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- People see what they want to. I am actually the opposite of your accusation, probably more of a rebel than most of you who don’t get the big picture. The difference is, I don’t go moaning publicly about the consequences of my transgressions, I understand the need for rules and I take my OWN responsibility when deciding to ignore or break them or doing so involuntarily. I will also not hesitate to state my case or argue vehemently when relevant, sometimes it works, sometimes it makes things worse but that’s the price to pay for principles and having character.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- That may be but that was unknown to others and nothing says that’s the whole truth. Again, don’t try to misinterpret, it is a call and technically it is correct. Besides, even if there is a valid reason, that does not disqualify the ruling or punishment as far as the rules have been developed. I don’t think they’re as far as in football where for handball there is a distinction (in some ways and specific cases) between intentional or not. And football can be just as harsh and people live with it, eg the offside rule, also judged to within tiny fractions but often wrong or ignored. It’s the nature of every collective organisation and sometimes I wonder if our rebellion against it isn’t seated in the feelings we carry from the injustices we’ve felt personally, like being flashed driving 1km/h too fast when we are explained limits are just a security measure but we are absolutely certain not to have endangered anyone with our transgression. The problem is, nobody has better solutions and no 2 people have the same interpretation of where a limit should be.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- Because for you deviated implies the other rider MUST have been made to fall and fail to finish ??? I don’t know if you ride a bike but next time someone carves you up or drives dangerously close, just hold back from those feelings of changing something, reporting or filming or even complaining. Everyone will just say, hey you’re still here undamaged, doesn’t seem like anyone did anything.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And we, what are we doing?Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- And yet, it attracts people, even you. What’s more, it attracts the rival fanboys to fill cyberspace with endless pointless my hero is better than your hero blabla that’s all been heard before and only helps sell the site as an advertising platform. You know what the solution is but most can’t resist. No different than women who follow and discuss celebs through gossip magazines.Jumpyjohn08-11-2026
- he is doing 460 watts for 35 min to achieve 7 w/kg with VO2 at 96 , just unreal numbers.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- Just do it, and put up with the consequencesJumpyjohn08-11-2026
- "was a headliner at the Tour de France" Nobody cared about Piddie. Only rivals that were there for Pogi, Jonas, Remco, Sexias, Lipo, Del Toro and they were all expected to lose. Piddie was not even in any conversation.abstractengineer08-11-2026
- exactly, he had an amazing season, but with these overstatements they don‘t do him good.Ketterechts08-11-2026
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Après sa chute d’hier, nous sommes rassurés de savoir que Lars va bien ce matin. Toute l’equipe lui souhaite un bon rétablissement. After his crash yesterday, we are relieved to hear that Lars is doing well this morning. The whole team wishes him a good recovery.
Luckily I was free to go late in the evening. The medical experts of the team will now take charge of the following steps. What remains is a very scary experience, for me, my teammates and loved ones. 2/3
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