David Dekker of team Jumbo-Visma was all set out to take the victory at Vuelta a Burgos on 3rd August 2022. He almost had it in his grasp and was quite happy that things were going according to their plan. He thought that taking a win at stage 2 is the perfect opening of the tour. Little did he know, that all his dreams would come crashing down along with his bike, which slid off of a bump in the road and he fell down.
With just 500 meters to go to the finish line, Dekker met a tragic fall. He lost control of his bike when it went over what looked like a bump and fell, sparking a massive crash that took down almost half of the peloton. Jumbo-Visma still managed to dominate the win with Chris Harper, Edoardo Affini, and Timo Roosen but there was little to celebrate as the wreckage of the 13 seriously affected riders lay behind on the road.
A crazy final kilometre with a massive crash in Spain. In the end @TimoRoosen crosses the line first. Let’s hope everyone involved in the crash is okay 🍀
— Team Jumbo-Visma cycling (@JumboVismaRoad) August 3, 2022
One can say that AG2R Citroën’s rider Damien Touzé was the most affected. He crashed into the roadside barrier and which came off due to the collision. He was rushed to the hospital and was conscious on arrival. As a result, he suffered from a concussion and serious head trauma. Davide Ballerini’s (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl) condition will be reevaluated on Thursday, 8th August. He was already suffering from a hematoma in his right gluteus and the crash left him with more contusion.
Luckily, Marc Sarreau (AG2R Citroën Team) escaped with minor injuries and is expected to continue the race. On the other hand, Jannik Steimle (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) is out of the race with a broken collarbone. He will be taken to Herentals to undergo surgery. Orluis Aular (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) suffered from a fracture in his scaphoid bone and his teammate David Gonzalez dislocated his elbow. Both of them are excused from the race. While Wilco Kelderman and Jai Hindley (Bora-Hansgrohe) have their lucky stars to thank, they managed to escape with just a few scratches.
Edoardo Affini was seen celebrating his victory, and he received quite a backlash for it, but he was oblivious to the wreckage that laid 500 miles behind him. To make his position clear, he wrote on his social media:
Before everyone starts writing bullshit on here, I want to make it clear. I was doing a full lead-out effort. I have seen a teammate passing me with 200m to go and I celebrated, yes.
He cleared his intentions, saying:
I really didn’t have any idea of the huge carnage behind us. I feel very sorry and sad for everyone involved and I hope no one is badly hurt
The riders were furious with the organizers for the racing conditions. The presence of a speed bump in the racing route is against the guidelines. However, Organizers state that they did warn about the hindrances, which only further fanned the fire. Affini continued his post to add some criticism:
Dear @UCI_cycling after all that happened already, to allow a finish with a speed bump so high in the last 800m coming from a super high speed section is a disgrace. Unacceptable
Dear @UCI_cycling… a speed bump 550 meters from the finish with 70-75 kph. That’s not okay… more focus on riders safety please 🙏🏼
Hope all the involved riders in the crash are okay ❤️🩹 #VueltaBurgos pic.twitter.com/mEXsMzbmOU
— Anders Mielke (@AndersMielke) August 3, 2022
Stage winner, Timo Roosen, also did not seem to be in any mood to celebrate. He was more concerned with those involved in the crash and hoped for them to be safe. While David Dekker expressed his feelings on social media:
I am OK considering what happened. Seems nothing is broken except my morale but I have a lot of wounds. I did not see the speed bump coming and with that high speed in a downhill section, I lost complete control. I sincerely hope everybody involved is OK and will recover soon
With an exception of 13 riders, all those involved were given the same finishing time as the stage winner due to the horrible crash. We hope everyone recovers soon.
Also Read: Inside The Crash At Tour De Pologne
Featured Image Via YouTube/ All Cycling
