Stig Broeckx (Lotto-Soudal) is reported to be in a coma after an incident involving a motorbike at the Belgium Tour.
The third stage of the race was initially neutralised but was then cancelled when the seriousness of the crash became clear.
It’s thought that a moving moto collided with a stationary moto, and both then collided with a group of riders.
#BelgiumTour @StigBroeckx will be transferred to the hospital in Aachen for tests. We'll provide more info later.
— Lotto Soudal (@Lotto_Soudal) May 28, 2016
Broeckx had only recently returned from a broken collarbone suffered in a collision with a motorbike at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne.
Tony Martin (Etixx-Quick Step), who was in the race but not involved in the crash, tweeted about the incident not long after the race cancellation:
Again a terrible chrash with motorbikes.Riders and organisation decided to cancle the stage.All the best for Stig Broeckx
— Tony Martin (@tonymartin85) May 28, 2016
What we need NOW is a round table with UCI, race organizers and riders to force changes and decide one safty standard for EVERY race!
— Tony Martin (@tonymartin85) May 28, 2016
The UCI press office tweeted a short statement later in the afternoon:
@UCI_cycling where can I find the new rules? Do you have a link?
— Marcel Kittel (@marcelkittel) May 28, 2016
[2/2] closely at what happened today to determine whether those rules were respected.
— UCI (@UCI_cycling) May 28, 2016
Other twitter users posted photos of the immediate aftermath:
#BelgiumTour Some pics of the today's accident at #BaloiseBelgiumTour
📷by @TGhiesmans pic.twitter.com/9phhM5AFRo— Brain on Wheels (@BrainOnWheels) May 28, 2016
Que tiene que pasar para que tomen medidas con la motos,que muera un ciclista?Hoy a estado muy cerca#monosdeferia# pic.twitter.com/wE3OzZhuhu
— Angel Vicioso (@angel_vicioso) May 28, 2016
This is a new incident in a growing list of collisions involving race vehicles, the regularity of which seem to has increased over the past few seasons.
Earlier this year Antoine Demoitié died after a motorcycle landed on him following a crash. His team, however, refused to blame the moto driver for their rider’s death.
