Olympic champion cyclist Evenepoel sustains fractures and a dislocated collarbone in training crash

HERENTALS, Belgium (AP) — Two-time Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel sustained multiple fractures, a dislocated collarbone and lung contusions when he crashed into a vehicle while training in Belgium on Tuesday.

The 24-year-old Evenepoel broke his right shoulder blade, right hand and a rib, his Soudal Quick-Step team said. He was scheduled for surgery after further examinations revealed “contusions on both lungs and a luxation of the clavicle.”

“The clavicle will be operated on this evening, which if successful, should allow Remco to leave hospital tomorrow,” the team said in an update Tuesday night. “There will then be a two-week period of immobilization required following this, after which a plan for his return to training can be made.”

Evenepoel had been treated at a hospital in Anderlecht before being moved to a facility in Herentals.

Belgian media reported Evenepoel was unable to avoid the door of a post office vehicle when it was swung open. He never lost consciousness, but the impact was heavy enough to break the frame of his bicycle.

Photographs online showed Evenepoel sitting beside an ambulance, wrapped in a blanket and holding his arm.

Evenepoel was the first cyclist to sweep the road race and time trial at an Olympic Games when he triumphed in both in Paris in August.

A two-time world champion, Evenepoel also won the Spanish Vuelta in 2022 and finished third in the Tour de France this year.

“He was lying on the ground for a while,” said Bart De Pelseneer, who has a butcher’s shop nearby. “It was clearly a heavy blow. The door of the postal car was also completely twisted. His bike was completely broken, they folded it up like a wheelchair.

“When I went to look, he looked deathly pale. The emergency services gave him a Coke. His wife, Oumi, was here at about the same time as the emergency services.”

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AP cycling: https://apnews.com/hub/cycling