Michael Vanthourenhout narrowly escapes injury in Kortrijk: "If the recovery goes well, he'll be back in the action in Dublin"

Michael Vanthourenhout could smell victory in the X2O Trophy Kortrijk, but fell in the last round. It was immediately clear that he could not continue, as he clutched his shoulder with a pained expression. The European champion then went to the hospital for a check-up, where things turned quite well for the Belgian.

In the final of the city cross in Kortrijk it was between four riders: Lars van der Haar, Cameron Mason, Eli Iserbyt and Vanthourenhout. The duo from Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal played the team game, allowing Vanthourenhout to create a gap in the final lap. This put him in a promising position to take the win. However, Vanthourenhout crashed in a bend and didn't seem to get up easily.

During Vanthourenhout's visit to the Kortrijk hospital, it was determined that the European champion had not broken anything. His team Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal informed WielerFlits about this. Vanthourenhout can travel to Dublin for Sunday's World Cup round, but will have to hurry to catch his flight.

"During hospital examination, a partial dislocation of the shoulder joint around his right collarbone was found, but no fractures," says the press representative of Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal. "If the recovery and the trip to Ireland go well, Michael will be back in action tomorrow in the World Cup round in Dublin."