World champion Julian Alaphilippe has crashed out of the Tour of Flanders while at the head of the race after hitting a motorbike on the course. X-rays subsequently confirmed he had broken the metacarpal 2 and 4 bones on his right hand, and he is due to undergo an operation tomorrow.
The Frenchman, whose Deceuninck Quick-Step team has been renamed Elegant Quick Step for the day for sponsorship reasons, fell heavily and was clearly in no condition to continue riding as he received medical attention.
The incident happened with around 33km remaining, shortly after Alaphilippe together with Mathieu van der Poel of Alpecin-Fenix and Jumbo-Visma’s Wout Van Aert had broken clear at the head of the race on the climb of the Taienberg.
?? ? CHUTE D’ALAPHILIPPE ! Quelle terrible fin de saison pour le Français…
Le champion du monde était en train de parler avec son DS et n’a pas vu la moto garée sur la droite de la route, il ne repartira pas ?#LesRP #HomeOfCycling pic.twitter.com/4oe0ryOJxB
— Eurosport France (@Eurosport_FR) October 18, 2020
The trio were coming round a right-hand bend, with Alaphilippe at the rear on van der Poel’s wheel, when the crash happened just as he was apparently distracted by a conversation with his team car on his radio.
He hit the rear luggage box of the motorbike with his right arm and was thrown over his handlebars.
The motorbike, ridden by a member of the race jury, was stationary on the right-hand side of the road, and the incident will reignite concerns that there are too many such vehicles on major races.
14 thoughts on “Updated: Julian Alaphilippe’s Tour of Flanders ends as he breaks hand in crash with race motorbike (+ video)”
“The motorbike, ridden by a
“The motorbike, ridden by a member of the race jury, was stationary on the right-hand side of the road, ” Sure about that ? Looks like it was going slowly, but it was not stopped.
They really need a close look at the vehicles in these events. When they came through our neighbourhood on “Hammer Stavanger” last time, I was stunned at the abysmal driving by the team cars, officials cars, escort bikers, camera bikers. How there are not more accidents amazes me.
Yes, it was obviously not
Yes, it was obviously not stationary. One clue is that the front wheel was turning.
Even in the picture up top,
Even in the picture up top, unless the moto had mastered the art of the trackstand, then he was defitantely moving, probably only 10-15 kph though, I think that was the issue.
I think the incident was
I think the incident was caused by WVA going up and slipstreaming the race jury bike as it slowed…and then moving past it. MVDP had his head down (as usual) and only saw the bike at the last minute and swerved past it…JA had been on the radio following MVDP within an inch, when MVDP swerved out, JA wasn’t so lucky. Hard to blame the Jury bike, I reckon, more a combination of factors…not least rider fatigue.
Totally agree. If that was on
Totally agree. If that was on a club ride there would have been words, “Call out the cars you up front”.
I could hear Patrick Lefevere
I could hear Patrick Lefevere screaming from here. It didn’t look good for Alaphilippe, you could see the blood through his jersey and the world of pain he was in.
Whether the motorcyclist was
Whether the motorcyclist was stationary or going slowly, anyone on a bike really should be looking where they are going. Distracted by the team radio, just like thousands of motorists distracted by their phones. Schoolboy error JA.
biker phil wrote:
What nonsense. JA was following the wheel in front at high speed and that wheel suddenly flicked away at the last second leaving him on collision course with the moto. That’s what caused the crash. All racers focus on the wheel in front when going hard and rely on their fellow pros to take the right line, if you start looking up the road you’re going to hit the wheel in front.
Sorry, but thats rubbish. You
Sorry, but thats rubbish. You see incidents in races all the time where a rider is following a wheel then hit a curb or a barrier or even another cyclist. Its the riders responsiblity to watch where they are going. He must have seen the bike, they are not exactly inconspicuous. There are rules that govern that riders keep their heads up in TTing for a very good reason.
That’ll be because TT riders
That’ll be because TT riders are on their own maybe. So if someone midway down the peleton crashes and people behind them crash into him/her, it’s actually the following riders’ faults for being innattentive? Not sure you appreciate how closely pros follow each other nor how much they rely a) on the riders in front to pick a correct line and b) for motos not to unexpectedly slow/stop in front of them. But do go on victim blaming if you like.
Looks like Alaphilippe wasn’t
Looks like Alaphilippe wasn’t concentrating.
WVA obviously drafting till the last possible moment. Would have been nice for him to call out the hazard to the other two, but he doesn’t have to and he’s a c**t so MVDP and JA need to be looking out for themselves anyway.
Pity as Alaphilippe would have made the last 30km a hell of a lot more interesting.
Kadinkski wrote:
Yep – Bloke with head down runs into motorbike and the biker apologises?
Another example of having to
Another example of having to stay focused for every second. I hit a small low speed bump recently which I knew about but it threw me off my bike. Result is a dislocated fractured wrist and off the bike for at least 2 months.
The motorbike wasn’t
The motorbike wasn’t stationary. It was moving a little slower than the group. The reason he crashed was because he was on his radio and not looking where he was going.