Injuries sustained by riders involved in the Itzulia Basque Country Stage 4 crash 😞 Primož Roglič was also involved but did not sustain any fractures, BORA - hansgrohe said. 📸 Getty Images
Itzulia Basque Country director reacts to mass crash: "The accident occurred was an easy downhill, right curve, which was signposted"
CyclingFriday, 05 April 2024 at 13:19
Julián Eraso, director of Itzulia Basque Country, spoke to the press this morning after the hard crash that left 11 riders out of the race, including Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel and Primoz Roglic, with what that has meant in terms of media coverage.
Eraso explained that the Tour of the Basque Country 2024 is running on wider and safer roads than in other editions: "What happened yesterday can be called a racing incident because in the end it is part of cycling, whatever happened was an unfortunate incident."
"We were very pleased with the story. We were going perfectly, the road is wide, this year we have much safer roads than other years, but good sometimes safety plays against, because the safer it is the more cyclists ride, everything comes together, but good."
The director of the Itzulia makes it clear that the corner where the unfortunate incident occurred was properly marked and that the fall was due to a "mistake":
"The kilometer point where the accident occurred was an easy downhill, right curve, which was signposted, with the bad luck that except for the 11 riders who fell all the others passed the curve perfectly," he argued. "Those who were on the left side in the right-hand curve, it was probably a mistake, a wrong braking and those who were behind went off the road, just like that".
The catastrophic fall has decimated the GC contenders in the race and marks other races to come in the future as well, due to extensive injuries from several high-level riders. Finally, he justified resuming the race out of respect for the spectators who were at the last mountain pass and at the finish and for the sponsors who invest their money in the race:
"For us the most important thing is the health of the riders, that's why we stopped the race when the accident occurred and we gathered the 3 ambulances that were behind us and we made the transfer of the injured, which was the most important thing. From there it was the next step to give the second start to finish the stage out of respect for the public that was in the last mountain pass and the fans who were in Legutio and saw their idols, although not all of them, reach the finish line. This was appreciated by the sponsors, the public and the finish point".
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- “During a TT, I am basically blind”. That was his quote after crashing into the barriers in a TT. The problem isn’t the UCI, radios or air bags. The problem is the riders and their teams.JoeyB22-12-2024
- I think you overestimate scientific knowledge and for sure the spreading of it. There are huge numbers of people in similar situations, if there were an easy solution somebody would be making big money out of it. Nerve pain can have many complex origins or be due to complex combinations of reasons. Even if you discover a reason there is not always a solution. Migraines haven’t been solved either. I have had lower back/hip nerve pains on and off for over 30 years, no kind of doctor has ever found a way to reduce, prevent or solve the problem. It may just be that some people are born with nerves that are too short or get twisted out of position during certain movements.Mistermaumau22-12-2024
- Amazing ride by her and very promising for her future. On a side note, it’s a bit worrying all these wins riders have after emotional moments in their lives, someone will come up with emotional doping at some point. Maybe give them fake news just before a big race to get hormones pumping.Mistermaumau22-12-2024
- I doubt he will have the energy to do that if he continues to do leadout for Phillipsenabstractengineer22-12-2024
- I know several people who’ve tried contacting sport airbag manufacturers and none of them ever got a reply. Might be hard to organise anything with such attitudes.Mistermaumau22-12-2024
- It's the BBC. Who cares outside of little Britain.leodis22-12-2024
- Crawl back under your stone.leodis22-12-2024
- Thanks Dadmobk22-12-2024
- Hard to believe with the advancment of modern medicine he can not find a cause for this.frieders321-12-2024
- You continue to platform these two cheats. With that in mind I can no longer use your site. I know my leaving means little, but, sometimes you have to take a stand. See ya!DJ21-12-2024