Multiple crashes in the final kilometres of the men’s Classic Brugge-De Panne on Wednesday took a significant toll, with a number of teams delivering updates on rider injuries into the evening.
Lotto’s Lionel Taminiaux, who had been expected to race the E3 Saxo Classic on Friday, was among those hardest hit and also wasn’t the only rider from his team to fall.
“In one of the crashes today in Brugge-De Panne, Jasper De Buyst and Lionel Taminiaux were involved,” said Lotto on social media . “Jasper mainly suffered abrasions from his crash. Lionel is worse off – he has a collapsed lung and a broken rib and will spend the night in the hospital.”
Cofidis riders Damien Touzé, Milan Fretin and Piet Allegaert also fell in one of the earlier crashes and while the wounds on Fretin and Allegaert were clearly visible and kits ripped the trio of Cofidis riders were among those who eventually made it over the line.
So did Edward Theuns, who last week won at Bredene Koksijde Classic. Lidl-Trek said that further examinations would reveal the extent of his injuries though the rider who is scheduled to race Gent-Wevelgem this weekend did deliver an update on social media.
“Nothing broken (I think), but a lot of wounds,” said Theuns in an Instagram post. “Let’s try to heal well and see what the coming days will bring…”
Edward Theuns (Lidl-Trek) after crossing the line at Classic Brugge-De Panne (Image credit: Getty Images)
One of the favourites, Tim Merlier (Soudal-Quickstep), didn’t finish as while the European champion got through the earlier crashes and looked like he would be able to challenge in the reduced group sprint ultimately a nasty fall at a split in the road at just over 1km to go brought down a number of riders.
“Following the crash, Tim suffered abrasions to his right leg and arm, and a small open wound under the right knee, which required stitching,” said Soudal-Quickstep. “He will now take some rest this evening, after which his participation in the future races will be decided.”
Gent-Wevelgem this weekend and the Tour of Flanders next, were the next races Merlier was expected to line up at before taking on Scheldeprijs and Paris-Roubaix.
It was also a tough day out for 22-year-old Huub Artz (Intermarché Wanty) who was racing his first WorldTour event, with the team saying that both Gerben Thijssen, who rode through to the finish, and Artz, who didn’t get to cross the line, were heading to hospital for checks.
Visma-Lease a Bike’s Olav Kooij also hit the ground but according to his team “the damage seems to be limited to abrasions”.
“There are still some big goals ahead for him, so we’ll have to see how he recovers from this crash,” said sports director Grischa Niermann in a Visma-Lease a Bike media statement.
The Classic Brugge-De Panne Women is on Thursday March 27.
Cyclingnews will continue to add further updates as they become available.
