New video footage of the crash by Dutch rider Annemiek van Vleuten has emerged and raises serious questions about how the course was prepared and the lack of help for him after her horrible crash. On the bottom right hand corner of this shot, the height of the concrete kerbing is clear to see, with not even the corners of it padded for safety despite the carnage on the same stretch of road in the men's race the previous day.
The crash by Dutch rider Annemiek van Vleuten in the closing stages of the women’s road race at the Olympic Games yesterday was broadcast live on TV, but so horrendous was it that it is hard to look at again.
The 33-year-old has taken to Twitter to assure everyone she is OK.
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During the race, the camera was on van Vleuten when she crashed because she was leading solo coming down the final descent and as such she was riding for gold.
It meant her crash was broadcast live on TV, though the camera did not linger for long on her.
However, this morning fresh footage of the incident and its aftermath recorded by a spectator on the roadside has emerged.
Stickybottle has taken the decision not to use the video or to show any photos of the rider as she lay out cold on the side of the road.
But having seen the clip, it raises a number of very troubling matters.
Firstly, and before the incident event takes place; the person recording the action has their camera running when the lead motorbikes and cars reach the stretch of road in question before van Vleuten arrives.
In the bottom right hand corner of the footage the construction of the gully at the side of the road can be seen very clearly.
It is formed by what can only be described as a concrete kerb.
And at the spot where the spectator is standing, the gully runs off the road a little. It is made of concrete, is high and has a sharp edge.
But despite the risk it poses, nothing has been done to make it safer - such as placing padding over it or even some straw bales.
The kerbing at the side of the road is high and made of concrete; hard to believe something was not done to sections of it - even as emergency measure after the men's race when so many bad crashes were witnessed there.
After the men’s race there was a lot of criticism of this descent, Dan Martin just one rider pointing out how dangerous the descent was.
And it was on this very stretch of road that some of the top riders fell. Very serious injuries were sustained including two broken collar bones for Vincenzo Nibali.
The Italian fell along with Sergio Henao (Colombia) while in a three-man leading group – with Rafal Majka of Poland – and Henao suffered a fracture to his iliac crest and trauma to his thorax.
Australia Richie Porte had fallen on the descent earlier and hit the kerbing that formed the concrete gully at the side of the road suffering a broken scapula.
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The slippy road surface on the high-speed descent so close to the finish combined with the kerbing was confirmed as a massive hazard during the men’s race.
As former Olympic track champion Chris Boardman said, when he rode the course before either race, he noted the concrete running the down the descent on the side of the road as a real hazard.
He was sure some of the organisers must have noticed it too and he said he was angry nothing had been done to make it safer.
The fact nothing was done even after the men’s race, when the damage it caused was obvious, seems incredible.
And this is compounded when one looks at the new clip recorded by the spectator and sees the height and sharp edge of the concrete kerbing.
Marshals on the right of shot blow whistles and urge the riders to slow down. But this was only put in place after the crash. Such measures are used for hazards like street furniture regularly on major pro races. It seems odd - though it is easy in hindsight - that such a basic precaution was not taken on the corners that had proven so dangerous during the men's race.
Another deeply troubling factor exposed in this clip is the high number of vehicles that passed van Vleuten.
Stickybottle counted 17 motorbikes and two cars ahead of her on the road. It is difficult to say how many vehicles passed her as she lay on the road because the camera is focussed on the rider rather than the road.
But a large number of cars and motos can be heard passing.
However, despite so many race cars up near the front of the action it takes two minutes – 1min 53secs to be precise – before a medic reaches her.
If one looks closely at the footage, van Vleuten - who had exactly 1:03 of a gap on the trio who would eventually catch American Mara Abbott and taken the medals - has begun to come around just as the medics arrive.
The Dutch woman’s arm moves a little as do her legs just at the end of the clip.
And thankfully apart from three small spinal fractures, she has said she is going to be OK.
Even thought one or two moto riders finally stopped just before the medics arrive, it is to slow down other riders and the cavalcade. Nobody thinks to check on the stricken rider or to make sure her airways are clear.
Another incredible feature of this is that no decision was taken to place marshals in hi-viz clothing and blowing whistles to warn the riders to slow down on the trickiest corners.
It seems incredible that, at a very minimum, marshals were not warning the riders – in the way they took up positions after van Vleuten crashed – to urge the riders to slow down at the danger spots coming off the climb, especially on the last lap when the racing was really on.
There are definitely huge lessons to be learned from this and including a delegation of riders to help select courses at the Olympics might be a good place to start.
But reacting when a course proves dangerous - and before further planned events take place there - must become a bigger priority.
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