Lotto-Soudal file complaint against motorbike rider who knocked off Stig Broeckx

Lotto-Soudal have filed a complaint against the motorbike rider who collided with their rider Stig Broeckx at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne, leaving the Belgian out for several weeks.

Broeckx pulled out of the peloton across the road as a medical motorbike zoomed up the outside. It looked as if the motorbike driver should have had time to pull further across the road, but clipped the Lotto rider sending him crashing to the ground.

The team, while confirming that Broeckx had fractured his collarbone and a rib, questioned if the bike needed to be in that place at that time.

>>> These are the times when support vehicles have hit riders in the past 12 months (videos)

“Lotto-Soudal regrets the collision and the speed of the motor while passing by the group of riders. The team emphasizes that the road was wide enough and wonders if the motor rider should have been on that place at that time,” the team said in a press release.

“Lotto-Soudal hopes that after the succession of events the past few months and because of what happened during Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne the theme ‘safety’ won’t only be further discussed between organisations, teams and their interest groups, federations and the international cycling union, but that soon also concrete measures will be taken to increase the safety of the riders.”

Broeckx is the latest rider to be injured in a collision with race vehicles, with Jesse Sergent, Peter Sagan, Greg Van Avermaet and Jakob Fuglsang involved in high-profile incidents last year.