The third stage was called off in Belgium after a crash involving two motos caused a major pile-up in the bunch.
Belgian rider Stig Broeckx is in a vegetative state one month after he was taken out when two race motos crashed into each other and then bunch at the Belgium Tour.
He had been in a coma and it was known he had suffered a number of brain bleeds. But his team has issued an update about his condition today, Saturday, and the news is not good.
"The past days the neurosurgical team of the hospital in Genk has reduced the medication of Stig in an attempt to get him out of coma," the statement said.
"Unfortunately Stig doesn’t respond to stimuli like sound or movement. The doctors confirm that Stig has incurred severe brain damage, in the brain stem and different brain regions.
Advertisement
News of Stig Broeckx's condition will once again focus attention on rider safety in cycling.
Related News
The team's statement continued: "He is now in a vegetative state. At the moment it is difficult to predict if the consciousness can partially come back.
"Out of respect for the family there won’t be any further comments."
The crash that has injured him so badly occurred when one race moto hit a stationery race moto as the field was descending a climb about 65km into stage 3 last month.
Both motorbikes then hit the field with about 20 riders falling, half of whom were hospitalised.
And having been badly injured when hit from behind by a moto at the Belgian semi classic Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne back in February, he appears to have come of worst of the riders who crashed today.
He was attended to by medics at the scene of last month's crash before being taken by helicopter to hospital in Aachen.
He has remained in hospital since then and the UCI has said it was moving to improve how vehicles worked on races, including restricted the number of size of motos.
Topics
