Lotto-Soudal's Stig Broeckx has suffered severe brain damage

Doctors in Belgium have announced that Lotto-Soudal rider Stig Broeckx has suffered severe brain damage to his brain stem and other brain regions, as a result of his crash in May.

The Belgian rider has been in a coma since the evening of the incident at the Tour of Belgium on May 29 which involved two motorbikes that were following the race and 19 fellow riders.

>Lotto-Soudal's Stig Broeckx in coma after crash with motos at Tour of Belgium

Over the past few days the neurosurgical team treating Broeckx at the hospital in Genk, Belgium, have been reducing the rider's medication in the hope of bringing him out of his coma.

Unfortunately, according to a Lotto-Soudal statement, the hospital has reported that the Belgian appears to be unresponsive to sound and movement stimuli, and the doctors have confirmed that Broeckx has suffered severe brain damage to his brain stem as well as several other brain regions.

The 26-year old remains in a vegetative state for the time being as it is difficult to predict if consciousness can return, even partially, at this point.

Lotto-Soudal have said that there will be no further statements from them regarding the rider's condition in respect for his family.