Marco Haller was left with carbon-fibre fragments in a wound in his left leg after a crash during E3 Harelbeke on Friday saw a large number of riders tangled up.
The Katusha-Alpecin rider was forced to abandon the race after the incident. Several riders' bikes were snapped in half as a result of the crash, and evidently a snapped tube or component made contact with Haller's leg.
Katusha-Alpecin posted a video on Instagram of Haller talking after the incident as he sat in the team car for treatment. Shards of carbon-fibre were clearly visible on his leg.
The crash happened with around 108km left to go in the 206.1km race in Belgium.
Riders were thrown into ditches at the roadside, with some ending up in a field. It was unclear what had caused the crash.
"I'm okay, I hope all the other riders are also okay," said Haller.
"I just have to say I don't think I've ever seen so many broken bikes, there must have been 100,000 Euros gone."
Nigel Wynn worked as associate editor on CyclingWeekly.com, he worked almost single-handedly on the Cycling Weekly website in its early days. His passion for cycling, his writing and his creativity, as well as his hard work and dedication, were the original driving force behind the website’s success. Without him, CyclingWeekly.com would certainly not exist on the size and scale that it enjoys today. Nigel sadly passed away, following a brave battle with a cancer-related illness, in 2018. He was a highly valued colleague, and more importantly, n exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed.
