Team Arkéa Samsic have been on a tremendous season so far, however at the Tour of Turkey their luck reversed as both Nairo Quintana and Nacer Bouhanni crashed out of the race. The latter, with serious injuries which have put a dent on the Frenchman.
On an interview with L'Équipe, Bouhanni mentioned that "after the ecography, the doctors said that it was very serious and that I ran the risk of paralysis, I fractured my C1 vertebra, so my recovery will be very long. The rest I don't know, now I only hope to recover. Today I would trade my 70 shit wins for my health".
"Fall, get up, come back. 3 words that I know a little about," the Frenchman said ironically on his Instagram page. "I am still in shock at the violence with which I hit the gentleman who was walking on the road head-on during the 2nd stage of the Tour of Turkey." In what was a freak accident, Bouhanni was unlucky to be in the position where he couldn't avoid a pedestrian who was on the road and unaware of the incoming peloton which led to a mass-crash.
"We were at about 55km/h during the impact... so I couldn't anticipate anything, I just have this image, again, which keeps coming to my mind, and where I see two people in front of me on the road !!! It really is a nightmare. Really, I'm at a point... I'm not used to writing a text like this on social networks, but I can't understand how this could have happened!!" he added.
The Frenchman is no stranger to injuries, over his career he has suffered plenty. He was forced to miss out on the 2016 Tour de France after an altercation with a drunk hotel guest the weekend before the race, and in 2017 he suffered head injuries in a crash at the Tour of Yorkshire which almost caused him to loose eyesight. Earlier this year he suffered a concussion in a training accident, however he still managed to start his season in February at the Clasica de Almeria where he finished second.
Although only having gotten one win this year - at La Roue Tourangelle - he has been very consistent with an additional four podium spots, including the Classic De Panne-Brugge and Milano-Torino where he faced world-class competition. He was targeting a big win at the Tour of Turkey, but his goals were shattered on a road after a brutal crash.
"Psychologically it is very hard for me, I thought of the worst until my arrival in Paris and I still thank enormously the neurosurgeon of the Paris Bizet clinic, Dr. Georges Abi Lahoud, for my care, my manager Manu Hubert, DS Yvon Ledanois, for being by my side so that everything went as well as possible, until my repatriation. Now, my recovery is going to be very long, because I fractured my C1 cervical. The rest I do not know… Now, I just hope to recover. Thank you all again for your messages of support," he concluded.
Rúben SilvaEditor-in-Chief
A founding contributor to CyclingUpToDate since its launch in January 2022, Ruben Silva has played a central role in shaping the site’s editorial direction and long-term growth. Before joining the project, he built his experience through independent blogging at Echelons Hub and by producing race previews for Ciclismo Internacional, developing a strong analytical voice rooted in daily engagement with professional cycling.
Beyond editorial work, he has been closely involved in the expansion and coordination of CyclingUpToDate’s wider network, helping establish and support sister platforms across multiple languages. This includes ongoing collaboration with CiclismoAlDia (Spanish), CiclismoAtual (Portuguese), WielrennenUpToDate (Dutch), and RadsportAktuell (German), contributing to a shared editorial vision and consistent international coverage.
He also helps oversee editorial governance across the network, setting standards for accuracy and consistency and coordinating updates or corrections when needed.
Originally from the Porto metropolitan area in Portugal, he holds a bachelor’s degree in Geography. His path into cycling journalism was shaped not through formal media training, but through independent reporting, community engagement, and sustained on-the-ground involvement in the sport.
Over the course of his career, he has conducted approximately 100 interviews across road cycling and cyclocross, ranging from one-to-one conversations and online formats to press conferences and on-site pre- and post-race coverage. His interviews include leading riders, team managers, and prominent figures within cycling media: Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard, Mathieu van der Poel, Primoz Roglic, Wout van Aert, Joao Almeida and Tom Pidcock; managers like Patrick Lefevere and Joxean Matxin; and YouTube personality Bryan Kennedy (BKXC)...
Within 18 months of launch, he helped grow CyclingUpToDate’s English-language platform into one of the most-read cycling news websites, built entirely from the ground up. As both a professional journalist and lifelong cycling enthusiast, his focus remains on delivering accurate, timely, and well-contextualized coverage.
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