Giant-Alpecin’s Ramon Sinkeldam described the moment when a car, reportedly driven by a British tourist, drove into his group of riders, leaving him and five teammates hospitalised.

The Dutchman suffered cuts and bruises in the accident in Calpe, Spain, requiring 24 stitches to his knee, while teammates John Degenkolb, Max Walscheid and Warren Barguil received broken bones.

Chad Haga remains in hospital awaiting surgery on his eye socket, while Frederik Ludvigsson escaped with cuts and bruises.

But Sinkeldam says the riders are now out of danger.

“The group panicked, a car came straight at us,” he told NOS. “There was a lot of shouting, I then lost a lot.

“The worst is that you talk to people, escorts who were there – that you see them so emotional. Maybe I’m lucky that I did not experience that consciously. Because you look on the battlefield and you see six people that are in your team, your family, on the ground and are almost not moving, then what it does to you.

“Luckily we are all out of danger. “