Remco Evenepoel is, thankfully, expected
to make a full recovery after his crash in Il Lombardia; the 20-year-old new
star of pro cycling remaining conscious throughout a very difficult ordeal.
The fact his Deceuninck-QuickStep
manager Patrick Lefevere said he cared about nothing else yesterday apart from
the fact his rider was still alive was a reflection of just how horrendous the
crash was.
Indeed, video footage from a spectator,
below, showed how fast Evenepoel was thrown over the bridge he hit while
descending the Muro di Sormano in the front group at the race.
In the minutes after the crash, which threw Evenepoel down into a ravine, the footage was played repeatedly on live television coverage even though it was unclear if the young rider was OK.
It has since emerged Evenepoel sustained
serious injuries, but nothing so serious he won’t fully recover.
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His team said he fractured pelvis and
suffered a right lung contusion and was set to stay in hospital in Como
overnight before being brought back to his native Belgium to recover.
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And while his injuries will keep him off
his bike for a prolonged period, Evenepoel should be able to return to racing
before the end of the season, though riding the Giro d’Italia now seems a long
way off.
In his absence from the front group
yesterday Il Lombardia became a three-man race between George Bennett (Jumbo
Visma) and Astana’s Jakob Fuglsang and Aleksandr Vlasov.
While Bennett attacked hard on the last
climb and dropped Vlasov, Fuglsang held the Kiwi before attacking him to win
solo.
The Dane claimed the victory by 31
seconds from Bennett with Russian champion Vlasov on 3rd place a further 20
seconds back. Ireland’s Eddie Dunbar (Team Ineos) was 41st at 14:28 after 231km
of racing.
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