Mattias Skjelmose, a young Danish rider with Trek-Segafredo, has said he must have had a guardian angel watching over him when he crashed over a roadside wall and into a ravine on stage 2 of Volta a Catalunya yesterday.
He was bumped by another rider, which changed his direction - towards the wall - on a descent, with his momentum doing the rest; the 21-year-old going over the wall but thankfully not falling too far down off road level.
He quickly scrambled back up to the road and insisted on continuing in the race, telling medics and officials who stopped to help him: “I’m okay, I’m okay. Just get me a new bike!”
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After the race, he said he felt fortunate to emerge from the incident with no injuries.
“Me and Antwan (Tolhoek) were in a pretty good position just behind UAE on the downhill and then somebody made a braking mistake and unfortunately, I was on the outside, and on my outside there was a cliff where I ended. Luckily, I did not hurt myself so bad, and I came pretty fast back on the bike and Antwan helped me back to the bunch.”
