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news
Annemeik van Vleuten (source Orica-AIS).PNGAnnemiek van Vleuten in intensive care after Olympic road race crash
Dutch rider Annemiek van Vleuten will reportedly spend 24 hours under observation in intensive care after crashing when leading the Olympic road race on Sunday, won by her compatriot Anna van der Breggen.
> Van der Breggen wins Olympic road race
The crash happened on the final descent from Vista Chinesa, with van Vleuten going over her handlebars and landing head-first.
According to NOS.nl, van Vleuten, who rides for the Orica-AIS team, sustained severe concussion as well as three small fractures to bones in her spine.
She was reported to be conscious and speaking, and according to the UCI "continues to be under examination" although she has "no serious medical problem." It added that she was "conscious and could communicate."
Concerns about the safety of the descent were raised yesterday after Italy's Vincenzo Nibali broke his collarbone in the men's race yesterday, with Team GB's Geraint Thomas also crashing.
Chris Boardman, who is in Rio as an expert analyst for the BBC, said: "I am past commenting - I am angry about it."
"I went down and had a look at the course and saw those edges. We knew it was way past being technical; it was dangerous. The people who designed the course and said what safety features were needed had seen it as well and left it.
"We knew the descent was treacherous. I looked at that road furniture and thought, nobody can crash here and just get up. It is really bad and that is what we have seen today."
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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24 comments
Crashes happen - but I was horrified a what the edges of the road/kerbs etc. were like and I'm entirely with Chris Boardman. I was instantly reminded of the fatal injuries sustained by Francois Cevert at Watkins Glen - he also landed on his back (in a car) on something nasty, in that case a metal barrier.
It said a lot that a section of catch netting dislodged by a crash on one day was not repaired ready for the next. A motor race at any of our circuits or, indeed, oval racing (Bangers, stock cars, hot rods etc) would not have been allowed to start until crash barriers/crash fencing etc. had been repaired and been subject to a course inspection.
For me it isn't enough to say that the Rio circut is OK "because you have such nasty things in other races including the TDF" - if you have these things elsewhere then they should be removed from those races also.
Given the problems in Rio, and the problems in the TDF (such spectator encroachment) perhaps it's about time professional cycling had a "Professional Riders Association" that works like the GPDA in improving safety in case of crashes.
Riders ought to be able to take risks without the sort of impact we saw in Rio if things go wrong.
The point is, deep concrete gutter was a very managable hazard, if any half decent risk anaylsis went into the event the crash would not have been so severe.
It looks as though that was the corner that got Thomas as well a day before so a crash there should have been pridicted. They went as far as putting a bloke with a flag highlighting the cornering Nibali crashed on for the women so why not take any action on that corner also.
Actually he was doing exactly that
They resurfaced the whole road!
The tour passes through places year on year including areas that aren't ideal - the champs for example...
Th difference here compared to say the tour is that this was multiple laps of a short course, used for 2 high profile races. The tour passes though a point once.
There is a case here that where risks were identified there would have been enough benefit to remove or mitigate them, especially considering where they already made efforts to re-surface the road.
Yes you cannot remove everything, and maybe they would not have removed some of the curbs if they ran for such a long distance, but it sounds like they didnt do anything at all.
Have to agree with unconstituted here, but also recognise what Boardman was saying. Glad to here the rider is going to be largely ok.
The main issues with the course were said to be unfinished sides to the road (big drop off the tarmac), street furniture and dangerous run offs. Some of the unfinished sides did look nasty but not a single accident was caused by those as the majority of the road was wide enough and smooth enough. As has been said before, most races involve street furniture and if you hit anything at the wrong angle it can do you damage (not sure I agree with the post about nice soft rock faces). Again as has been said, there's dangerous run offs on most descents.
The crashes took place from the centre of beautifully smooth tarmac, the netting did its job. People were injured but none so seriously as other incidents this season. In fact lets give the team cars and motos some credit!
Fingers crossed for a full recovery, easier said than done with 3 back fractures though.
Disagree with a number of comments here, that course was unsafe and agree with CB. In the dry, borderline, but rain could have been reasonably expected by the organisers. The gutter hazard was avoidable.
It is not that mistakes of high speed descending should go unpunished, it's their choice to go for it, but the cost of a mistake is disproportionate, avoidable and entirely predictable not least before the men's race. Huge shame, as the racing was fantastic, and the course, minus the descent hazard, was superb.
That was a real shock for me to see her launched over the handlebars and it made me cringe the way she landed. I hope she makes a speedy recovery.
There needs to be an investigation, to determine the safety aspects of the course. Someone should be held accountable.
I think some of you are missing Boardman's point. It is not a complaint about the descent and it's not about what took the rider down, it's about protecting the riders from those massive curbstones should they fall off.
I think descents are a legitimate part of racing but the sport must protect its competitors. The course yesterday was akin to an F1 corner with no tyres or a batsman in cricket with no helmet.
Some will always push their luck and lose. Strava downhill segments are banned for such reasons.
This. Saying that only a small number of people crashed is a weak argument for saying that the lack of safety features at the edge of the road wasn't dangerous. That gutter she fell into was properly nasty and fitting some blocks of foam into it would have been sensible in a lot of places, especially as the final descent of such difficulty was only a few km from the finish so risk taking was inevitable. To me, the general approach to safety was reflected by the fact the organisers didn't bother repairing the (rare) netting that Porte landed in before the women's race. It wouldn't be hard to foresee someone else making a mistake in the exact same place.
It appeared to me that she entered a long way from the outside of the bend, saw she couldnt make it, locked up the back wheel, then the front. I can't remember the run up to it very well - could lighting conditions have contributed? The commentators mentiomed the light/dark contrast a few times. The damp conditions at the time could have been a factor also, especially if her brakes took a revolution to grab after clearing damp. I was really worried - am very relieved by press reports that the spinal fractures are minor and hope they're correct. I feared a much worse outcome. It really did look horific.
This is exactly the point! plus the deep unfinished gutters alone the edge of those curbstones, on the road side. Boardman did a pre race preivew and showed the gutters and curbs before hand so he had flagged it.
I presume you know what the Galibier descent from the top of the Lauteret is like or from the Col De Sarenne or from the top of the Glandon ?
None of these in the Tour have safety netting or anything and if you make the same mistake coming down you go over the edge and probably death. It was different and unsual descent from what we normally see but no more dangerous.
I agree. I don't think asking people racing in an event with this much at stake should have the very real possibility of severe fractures or even life-threatening injuries from those kerbstones.
Others on here obviously think it was perfectly OK. If a competitor had died as a result they would probably say "well, they deserved it, the throttle works both ways" or some similarly dismissive crap.
Braked late into the corner and back wheel locked up throwing her off, from what I could tell. Wasn't actually an obstacle like the gutter that took her out. Insane ride by her though, rare that I enjoy the women's race more than the men's. Watching the race leaders fly up the final climbs was mental. TV doesn't usually capture the speed so well. Made me want to get out and climb some crazy shit.
ABS disc brakes may have made her crash less severe I reckon.
No, it was the presence of the large kerb stone around which she landed which seems to have exacerbated her injuries (broken lower vertebrae and she was last pictured lying over it). I hope she is able to recover from this.
Thrilling race though, as with the Men's. Lots of similarities at the end (crashes leaving a lone rider only to be caught by a sprint on the line).
I don't understand what you're saying. You said a large kerb stone exacerbated her injuries. I said she braked late on the corner and her rear wheel locked up causing her to get thrown off the bike.
Whats your point exactly, and what are you 'no'ing' about?
The 'no' refers to my view that you've missed the point here about the road furniture making things worse. It was evident that she hadn't hit a specific obstacle causing her fall - I don't think anyone was claiming she had.
Nevertheless, I'm sure you wish her a speedy recovery whilst she lies in intensive care.
I'm also sure that arguning you with on here is a fool's errand!
I still don't understand what you're saying.
I said the cause of the crash was a late brake into the corner which locked her rear wheel, which then bucked her off the bike. Several replays confirm this. Not controversial in the slightest.
Which part of that are you saying 'no' to?
You can't make up a mystery reason and then reply to me 'no' based on it.
He's saying that her injuries wouldn't be nearly as bad if there hadn't been a deep concrete gutter for her to land on.
Bingo - It's not that hard to see past someone's way of saying something, and realise it's about the road furniture and consequenses of hitting it rather than just picking holes for arguments sake.
So the trees in the forest behind wouldn't have been an issue if she had a flat run-off?
I don't expect a tree trunk would be a softer landing than a kurb.
Actually, a tree trunk could have been a better thing to hit than that gutter and kerb combo. Besides bark and wood being very slightly softer than concrete, the geometry just isn't nearly as nasty. There is also the possibility of doing what G did with the telegraph pole on the 16th stage of the Tour last year. (https://www.theguardian.com/sport/video/2015/jul/21/geraint-thomas-crash...) You can't hug a kerb.
Maybe you need to remove the bit about signing up for the BBC sport newsletter. People might think you're lifting content
Wishing Annemiek a quick recovery. Although, at 33, on the form of her life, and with a gold medal almost in the bag, I wonder if that hurts more than anything given how competitive these women are. Maybe not.
I like Boardman, but come on. One woman crashed, and it was as she was gaining time on everyone.
If you want a one-day race with a hill, you need to have either an uphill finish or place a descent close to the finish. Both races were thrilling. On the womens side, no one else crashed, on the men's side, I think only Porte and Thomas fell outside the last lap. So the road itself was seemingly safe enough. Obviously if you dangle a gold medal in front of the riders they're going to go all out and take risks. And maybe on a rainy day a contingency might have had to take place. But as it was, although I feel for Nibali, van Vleuten and particularly Henao who just made the mistake of riding too close to perhaps the best descender in the pro peloton, I really thought we got two great races.