It's a complete blackout" - French World Tour rider 'came within an inch of being in a wheelchair' after getting hit by a car

In Bretagne, a disaster almost took place this week as World Tour rider Thibault Guernalec was hit by a driver going at high speed and suffered multiple fractures, a concussion, loss of consciousness and was on the verge of becoming paraplegic. The Arkéa - B&B Hotels rider is now stable and has shortly commented on the incident that has marked his season and perhaps even his career.

This accident comes in a potentially very bad time as officially, Guernalec does not yet have a contract for 2026. He has been heavily rumoured to be joining 2026, and such a move wouldn't come as a surprise taking into consideration the 28-year old has ridden at a decent level for several years now and has been a consistently strong time trialist, as well as performer in the French cup races. At World Tour level racing he has also adapted well, and this year for example seventh at both the Tour de Romandie's time trials as well as coming in 10th at the Chrono des Nations and being part of the Mixed Relay Team Time Trial team that won the European Championships event - where he teamed up, on the men's side, with Bruno Armirail and Rémi Cavagna.

But on a regular November training ride, the French found himself in a disastrous situation. He was hit by a vehicle head-on, and has no memory of the crash. “My speedometer says I was going 50kph on a slight downhill," Guernalec said in words to Le Telegramme. "For almost four hours after that, it's a complete blackout. I have no memory of anything. Nothing."

That is a clear sign of a concussion which was indeed diagnosed, however the Frenchman also suffered a fractured vertebra and a finger. “I came within an inch of being in a wheelchair,” he admitted. “If you saw my helmet... Right now, I’m in a pretty bad way".