A 77-year-old French cyclist has been hailed as a “miracle” after he plunged 130 feet down a ravine while cycling home from the supermarket – and managed to survive for three days before being rescued by eating food and drinking wine from his shopping bag.
The pensioner’s dramatic fall came last weekend as he was riding home from a shopping trip to Saint-Julien-des-Points, a small commune in the Lozère department of southern France, in the Cévennes mountain range on the south-east edge of the Massif Central, French outlet Entrevue reports.
While cycling along the RN106 from La Grand-Combe, the 77-year-old missed a bend in the road, plummeting down a steep, rocky slope before landing with his bike in the Gardon riverbed 40 metres below.
Unable to climb out of the ravine, the cyclist tried to attract the attention of passing motorists by shouting every time he heard a sound emanating from the road above.
However, with his cries falling on deaf ears, and faced with the prospect of a prolonged stay in the cold and damp of the ravine, the stricken rider was forced to sustain himself on the contents of his shopping bag, including some food and a few bottles of red wine, which somehow managed to survive the fall.
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Finally, on Tuesday afternoon, after three long days in the ravine, a group of local roadworkers heard the cyclist’s by-now desperate calls. Spotting the crumpled frame of his bike, and then the silhouette of the pensioner, described by rescuers as “visibly exhausted but conscious”, the workers immediately contacted emergency services.
Firefighters attended the scene, and the cyclist was transported by helicopter to a hospital in nearby Alès for treatment.
“He’s a miracle,” Dr Laurent Savath, the chief medical officer of the Hérault fire department, said after the successful rescue mission.
Savath added that, despite suffering several falls into a stream while trying to scramble up the steep slope, the cyclist escaped with only minor injuries and mild hypothermia.
“He is really tough,” the doctor said. “In the cold and damp, with almost no food or water, he’s incredibly resilient.”
Resilient is an understatement. If you ever need proof of the benefits of a lifetime of cycling and a penchant for red wine, look no further than the bike riding, shopping bag-toting miracle of Saint-Julien-des-Points.
Of course, our 77-year-old accidental cycling survivalist isn’t the first cyclist in recent years to experience a lucky escape after plunging down a ravine in France.
At the 2021 Tour de France, four-time Tour winner Chris Froome and former world champion Philippe Gilbert combined to haul a cyclo-tourist back onto the road after the fan overshot a bend and fell 20 metres while descending the Col de Portet, following the conclusion of stage 17 of that year’s race.
“I can tell you that lots of things happen on a climb! On the descent, coming back down from the finish, I was following a cyclo-tourist who overshot a bend and ended up 20 metres further down,” Gilbert said, describing his dramatic post-stage intervention.
“I stopped to help him with Chris Froome and Christopher Juul-Jensen. There are things that aren’t known by the media, but yesterday I took almost 20 minutes to help this man!
“We called for help because he was still badly messed up. These are experiences that we also live through.”
12 thoughts on ““Miracle” 77-year-old cyclist falls down ravine in France – and survives for three days drinking wine from shopping bag”
At least he took the
At least he took the opportunity to gorge on his shopping while he was in the ravine.
Remember – that wine-bottle
Remember – that wine-bottle-holder is vital emergency equipment and could save you one day (perhaps on a recreation of an early edition of Le Tour).
And what better to go with it
And what better to go with it than a runny Camembert gel?
chrisonabike wrote:
Might I suggest that a white wine might be most suitable? You wouldn’t want the motion from cycling to shake up a nice red. This of course would mean cycling with wine could only be carried out when the weather would be cool enough for a nice white to remain chilled.
A practical suggestion –
A practical suggestion – although in this case it sounds like the ravine he was in would have enabled chilling or at least cooling the beverage.
Some people will do anything
Some people will do anything to get out of doing chores for a few days.
Good job the fall didn’t
Good job the fall didn’t happen on the way to the supermarket.
Good job the fall didn’t
Good job the fall didn’t happen on the way to the supermarket.
Thank goodness he was
Thank goodness he was carrying a corkscrew.
And a set of appropriate
And a set of appropriate glassware! If he’d only had champagne, say, and no flutes … doesn’t bear thinking about.
Exactly! No true frenchman
Exactly! No true frenchman would ever contemplate a screwtop bottle.
“Why are you back three days
“Why are you back three days late, reeking of alcohol?” I may give his excuse a test run one day.