Mauri Vansevenant and Rémi Cavagna recovering after car hit them at training camp
The French road race champion suffered a fractured L1 vertebrae with the Belgian breaking his thumb
Rémi Cavagna and Mauri Vansevenant are recovering after being injured when they were hit by a car at the Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl training camp in Spain on Wednesday, December 8.
Cavagna has undergone surgery, which was successful at the IMSKE Hospital in Valencia with the French road race champion now having to stay in hospital for a while to be monitored.
On the other hand, Vansevenant was flown back to Belgium from the camp in Calpe. However, he is already back riding his bike on the turbo trainer with his thumb bandaged.
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"Unlike Rémi, the damage is all in all not too bad for me and I don't have to undergo any surgery," Vansevenant told Het Laatste Nieuws.
"We had just taken some group photos in our new 2022 outfits and were continuing on a slightly downhill two-lane track.
"Suddenly a small car was ignoring the right-of-way rules and coming onto the main road from a side path. We had to close everything but three riders, including Rémi and I, could no longer avoid a crash."
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The 22-year-old described the crash as "disappointing" but hopes he will be back soon.
"Luckily my legs were not hit and I can more or less maintain my condition. The second team internship, at the beginning of January, will certainly not be in jeopardy."
Both riders had a solid season with Vansevenant riding his first full season with the team in 2021 after joining in July the year before. He completed his first Grand Tour at the Vuelta a España.
He also rode the Olympic road race, Tour de Suisse and just missed out on a top 10 at the Tour of the Basque Country as well as his first career win at GP Industria & Artigianato.
Cavagna has a few top 10s come his way in some big races such as the European Championship time trial, three stages at the Giro d'Italia and a second place at Paris-Nice as well as wins at the Tour de Romandie, French road race and the Tour of Poland.
Tim Bonville-Ginn is a freelance writer who has worked with Cycling Weekly since 2020 and has also written for many of the biggest publications in cycling media including Cyclingnews, Rouleur, Cyclist and Velo.