One of the big favourites for the junior men’s world time trial championships has been forced to withdraw from this week’s races in Montreal after being struck by a driver who cut across him during a training ride in the Canadian city.
Seff Van Kerckhove, who rides for Decathlon CMA CGM’s U19 development team, was expected to contend for the rainbow jersey during Tuesday’s time trial, after taking bronze as a first-year junior in the same event last year in Kigali.
The 18-year-old was training on his time trial bike with his brother Matisse and Belgian teammates Jasper Schoofs and Vic De Smet near their team hotel on Sunday, when the four riders split up to carry out individual efforts on a straight stretch of road.
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According to Matisse, as Van Kerckhove rode in his aero time trial tuck, a motorist cut across his path to turn into a driveway, hitting the young Belgian.
Van Kerckhove was also reportedly unable to stand up in the aftermath of the crash and was immediately taken to hospital, after his teammates, who didn’t witness the incident, discovered him lying on the ground.
The Belgian Cycling Federation has since stated that he sustained “severe impact” to his upper body, but did not provide further details. The federation also did not respond to questions related to why the riders were training on their own, without the support of a coach travelling in a following vehicle.
“From what I understand, a car suddenly drove across the street, presumably to turn onto a driveway,” Matisse, who didn’t see the collision, told Het Laatste Nieuws.
“The driver of that car didn’t see Seff coming, and because Seff was in his time trial handlebars at that moment, he couldn’t brake in time and crashed head-on into that car.
“It didn’t look good right away. Seff was taken to the hospital, where various scans are being performed to determine how serious his injuries are.”
In a statement, Belgian Cycling said: “Seff Van Kerckhove was hit during a training ride [on Sunday afternoon]. He was taken to hospital for further examinations. The collision had a severe impact on his upper body. Tomorrow more examinations will follow.
“Seff will now take time for his recovery. The rehab has already started. We wish him a speedy recovery. There will be no replacement for the Men Junior Time Trial nor Road Race.”
As noted by Belgian Cycling, Van Kerckhove’s injuries mean he will not be able to compete in Tuesday’s junior time trial or Thursday’s road race in Montreal, where he was expected to compete for gold following an impressive 2026 campaign.
The 18-year-old Belgian has won 11 times this year from just 31 race days, including dominant victories in junior stage races in Spain and Italy, as well as a number of one-day wins in France. He finished third in last year’s junior time trial in Rwanda, at 17, just eight seconds behind winner Michiel Mouris.
His brother Matisse, who finished 12th in Monday’s U23 time trial and will ride for Visma-Lease a Bike’s WorldTour team next year, said: “I was able to hear from Seff briefly from the hospital, and he is naturally very upset. He had really been looking forward to this world championships.”
Sunday’s collision in Montreal is the second time in less than a year that Van Kerckhove has been injured in a crash involving a motorist. Last December, he fractured four vertebrae after being struck by a driver while training at home in Belgium, an injury that delayed the start of his season until April.
The abrupt end to Van Kerckhove’s world championships campaign in Montreal is also the latest in a long line of serious incidents involving elite racers and motorists during training rides in recent months.
At this year’s Tour de France, UAE Team Emirates rider Brandon McNulty was riding to the start of the race’s 26.1km time trial on the shores of Lake Geneva when a member of the public, driving behind him, began blaring his horn. The motorist then overtook McNulty before slamming on his brakes, causing him to crash into the back of his vehicle.
UAE Team Emirates later confirmed that the road rage incident had been reported to the police, but that they would not take legal action against the motorist.
“It was just after the recon of the circuit and he was riding back to the start,” team boss Mauro Gianetti told road.cc. “And one guy with a car was just behind him and he overtook, honking the horn and making bad signals with his hand.
“And then when he was in front, he just slowed down and when he was very close, he stopped immediately to make him crash, and then he drove away.”
Gianetti attributed the incident to a general disdain towards cyclists on the roads, even when they’re professionals getting ready to race a stage of the Tour de France.
“Unfortunately when we ride the bike, we see people like this too many times,” he said.
On the same day, Pinarello Q36.5 rider Xandro Meurisse was also struck by a driver – who one source from within the team claimed was distracted at the time – leaving him bloodied and battered and his bike broken.
Just over a week later, Primož Roglič was forced to pull out of multiple warm-up races ahead of the Vuelta a España after he was hit by a driver whilst on a training ride, leaving him with severe bruising on his thighs.
Earlier that month, EF Education-EasyPost’s British rider Lukas Nerurkar was seriously injured by a driver in a training crash whilst visiting family, the crash leaving him with a broken collarbone that was also dislocated, a fractured sternum, a fractured vertebra, a broken rib, and a punctured lung.
6 thoughts on ““It didn’t look good right away”: Leading junior racer struck by driver during time trial training, forced out of world championships”
Yet another reason to ban time trial bikes from UCI competition. In addition to them adding a significant expense for young and poor riders (esp significant for aspiring riders from poorer nations – see the senior TT where a number of riders raced on road bikes, so they have no chance of being competitive), they are a safety hazard.
It is ridiculous to have a UCI road category, where the bikes used are _far_ more dangerous than normal road bikes – particularly for training on open roads.
Ban TT bikes. Make the playing field cheaper and more level. Remove the significant risk of having riders on bikes where their hands are far from the brake levers!
@Paul J There’s no good reason to believe that the outcome would have been in the slightest bit different had Van Kerckhove been riding a road bike instead. There are numerous links in the article to stories about other pros who have been injured whilst training on open roads, many of whom were on road bikes at the time and still unable to avoid the collision. The only common factor is motor vehicles being driven dangerously.
@OnYerBike it’s not really true that the only common factor in training injuries being the fault of motorists, is it? Egan Bernal is an obvious one which springs to mind.
In this case his teammate specifically said “Seff was in his time trial handlebars at that moment, he couldn’t brake in time and crashed head-on into that car.” That doesn’t mean it wasn’t the driver’s fault – after all, they should not have swung into his path – but it does undermine your claim that there’s no good reason to think that the outcome would have been different on a road bike.
Egan Bernal’s not referenced in the links in the article, though, so not relevant to OYB’s “only common factor” comment. And there’s still no good reason to think that the rider would have had time to brake in the current case had he been riding a road bike.
@Paul J Whats dangerous about the bike Paul? I can’t see anything about the bike thats ‘dangerous’.
Or do you mean drivers being the danger since they are the cause of the incident not a person riding a bike?
@Paul J I have to disagree. I suspect you have never ridden a T T bike.
It sounds as though the driver was at fault and the collision could just as easily happened on a road bike.
However I also think that pro and elite riders are so used to riding on tracks and closed circuits, that they sometimes forget that they are training on open roads – something that all club riders are reminded whenever they sign on for a race.
I make a point of training out in the countryside on my TT bike and avoid riding it hard in built up areas.
I also make sure that I keep my head in a position that allows good forward vision to watch out for potholes, overtaking cars etc. Many pros adopt a track position with the head looking down at the front wheel, which is not suitable for open roads.
Thousands and thousands of miles are ridden each week by club riders on TT bikes in training and racing with no mishap.
With regard to cost of TT bikes, I suggest you have a look at some of the road bikes that get used for racing in club and open TTs. They certainly aren’t cheaper than a TT bike.