Lotto Soudal's Jasper De Buyst has taken to Twitter to try and identify two cyclists who witnessed his traffic collision while out on a training ride.
The Belgian was out riding in Andorra, descending down a climb, when he was hit by a driver on his side of the road who was overtaking two cyclists.
"Got hit by a car riding on the opposite side of the road while he was passing two cyclists on their ascent of Coll de Rabassa in this corner," De Buyst said, posting an image of where the incident took place to Twitter. "I was descending and got hit by the car. I am looking for the two cyclists who were going up the climb. So if somebody can help find them?!"
De Buyst's social media followers then mobilised to try and help find these two riders, who would be able to help the rider file the police and insurance reports.
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La Flamme Rouge, a cycling routes editor and notable name on cycling Twitter, suggested checking his Flybys on Strava, and also created a segment at the place where the incident happened in order to try and gather everyone who had ridden that section of road that day. Other local riders replied saying they would send the details around their riding groups to see if anyone had further information.
"Thanks for the retweets and help," De Buyst then replied a few hours later. "To be clear the car driver didn't leave me there and did help me but it was important to find the two cyclists for the police and insurance report. Thanks!"
De Buyst is now said to have found one of the two cyclists, and after initial medical checks, he is suspected to have suffered a fractured rib.
“Photos indicate a fracture in the ribs. The photos could not rule out whether I have a shoulder fracture," De Buyst told Sporza.
“The problem is I've had a shoulder fracture before and they can't say exactly if it's the old or the new fracture," he explained. "That needs to be further investigated in Belgium."
De Buyst's participation in the upcoming Vuelta a España is now in jeopardy, and the Lotto-Soudal man is not overly hopeful he will still be able to start the Spanish Grand Tour in two weeks' time.
“I normally stayed here until 10 days before the start, to get the most out of the altitude and the training. That will now turn out differently," De Buyst continued.
"I have no illusions that the Vuelta will still go ahead. Even if it turns out my shoulder is okay, and that's not my feeling, then it is not ideal to start a Grand Tour with a broken rib. I don't think that's an option at the moment, but I'll see at the beginning of next week."
The Belgian has already suffered a great deal of Grand Tour disappointment, DNFing both the Giro d'Italia and Tour de France on stage nine, and a key part of Caleb Ewan's sprint lead-out.
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