While training in the Gooik region, near Brussels, on Tuesday, Remco Evenepoel was unable to avoid a Belgian Post vehicle, whose door was suddenly opened by a postwoman as the cyclist was about to overtake her. After colliding head-on, the 24-year-old Belgian found himself thrown to the ground before being transported to hospital. Result: he suffered multiple fractures to his ribs, right shoulder blade and right hand, Soudal Quick-Step indicated in a press release published Wednesday. Enough to scare his partner Oumi Rayane, who spoke on Instagram this Thursday.
“Thank you for all your messages and support. It means a lot to us. Life is scary. You wake up and make plans for the day: workout, work, dinner at home, and sleep in bed. But in a few seconds, all your plans are canceled and you end up sleeping in the hospital, she saddened on social networks. It’s a sign not to take life for granted. Everything can change in a fraction of a second. »
“With fractures to my ribs, shoulder blade and hand, bruising to my lungs and a dislocated right collarbone that tore all the surrounding ligaments, it will be a long road ahead, but I am fully focused on my recovery and I am determined to come back stronger, step by step,” Remco Evenepoel simply declared, 24 hours after the accident.
The double Olympic champion of Paris 2024 has not been spared from falls since the start of his career, the most serious having occurred during the Tour of Lombardy in 2020, in the descent of the Mur de Sormano. After a plunge of around ten meters into the void, he suffered a major fracture of the pelvis and damage to his lungs. This year, he was caught in a heavy collective fall at the beginning of April during the Tour of the Basque Country, already fracturing his collarbone and right shoulder blade.
