France’s Nicolas Debeaumarche suffers serious back injury in Tour of Poland crash
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Cyclists at the start of the first stage of the Tour of Poland, on Aug 12.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
WARSAW - French rider Nicolas Debeaumarche of Cofidis suffered serious back injuries after being involved in a crash on stage three of the Tour of Poland on Aug 14.
Debeaumarche went off the road on a descent and collided with a concrete water duct, with 54 kilometres remaining in the 156.5km ride from Walbrzych to Duszniki-Zdroj, when the rider was part of a 10-man breakaway group at the front of the race.
"Nicolas was taken to hospital, he suffered vertebral fractures and remains in hospital," a Cofidis spokesperson said.
Belgian Thibau Nys won the stage, with Denmark's Jonas Vingegaard in the overall lead.
Vingegaard, of Visma-Lease a Bike, finished second in this year's Tour de France after a three-month layoff following a crash at the Tour of the Basque Country.
There have been a number of serious incidents at the Tour of Poland in recent years. Belgian Bjorg Lambrecht died after a crash in 2019.
In 2020, Dutchman Fabio Jakobsen was put in a medically-induced coma after crashing into the barriers at the finish line after a collision with compatriot Dylan Groenewegen, who was disqualified from the race for dangerous behaviour. REUTERS