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Remco Evenepoel left bloodied and dazed after crashing into spectator after winning Vuelta Stage 3Remco Evenepoel Vuelta Stage 3 crash

Remco Evenepoel left bloodied and dazed after crashing into spectator after winning Vuelta Stage 3

More finish line drama after earlier footage showed barriers being blown over and parasols flying through the air
by Simon_MacMichael
UPDATED Mon, Aug 28, 2023 19:51

First Published Aug 28, 2023

Updated to include Remco Evenepoel's crash

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Remco Evenepoel was left with blood streaming down his face after crashing into a spectator just metres after crossing the finish line in Andorra to win Stage 3 of the Vuelta a Espana and take the overall lead of the race he won 12 months ago.

The spectator appeared to be on looking at her mobile phone and oblivious to the Soudal-Quick Step rider’s approach, and was knocked to the ground by the impact.

Overhead footage suggested that the Belgian champion, who had beaten back-to-back Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard of Jumbo-Visma to today’s stage win, did not apply his brakes until well after he crossed the line, and had he not hit the spectator, it seems entirely possible he would have struck some barriers stacked a short distance away.

Evenepoel, who is the defending champion in the Spanish Grand Tour, himself landed heavily after being thrown over his handlebars, and appeared winded and dazed as he lay on the ground following the crash.

Team personnel rushed to the aid of the former world champion, who had blood gushing from a cut above his right eye, and untangled him from his bike.

A short time afterwards, the 23-year-old was cleaned up as he visited the podium not only to take his bow as stage winner, but also to receive the red jersey as the new leader of the race.

While the blow he sustained to the head would clearly give rise to concerns about concussion, Evenepoel’s team said in a tweet, “he’s ok,” accompanied by a thumbs-up emoji.

It wasn't the only post-finish line drama to be captured on video at today's 158.5km stage from the Catalan town of Suria.

Earlier, footage posted to social media showed chaotic scenes at the finish line, with strong winds blowing over barriers and advertising hoardings just a couple of hours before the riders were due to arrive there at the conclusion of Stage 3 of the race.

In a video posted to X, formerly Twitter, broadcaster Eurosport described the conditions in Arinsal, which is hosting a stage finish for the first time, as “worrying,” with the footage also showing what seem to be parasols from a hospitality zone across the road.

This year’s race opened with two days of relentless rain in Catalonia, with riders slamming organisers following Saturday’s team time trial in Barcelona which saw the final teams out on the course having to negotiate it in darkness.

And yesterday, the overall times for the opening road stage, which finished in the city, were taken with 9km remaining for safety reasons.  

The weather today has at been relatively clement by comparison, though an earlier downpour made for a sketchy descent to the foot of today’s final climb to the finish, currently being negotiated by the riders, who have also had to contend with a cross-headwind for most of the day.

There was no mention of the conditions at the finish line on the live feed on the Vuelta website.

Vuelta 2023
Simon MacMichael

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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9 comments

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Orbeaman | 1 year ago
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Last year's decision to apply the 3km rule to a stage when it  wasn't in the road book was also an organisational failure. Maybe Remco needs to understand that he is only last year's winner due to failures of the organiser to get the details right.

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Rendel Harris | 1 year ago
1 like

All the comments saying Remco could have avoided it are correct, but the bigger question is why should he have been put in a position where he had to avoid it? It's a finish line at the top of an incredibly hard mountain, heading downhill after the line to boot. You're going to have riders coming sprinting over the top with severe oxygen depletion coupled with massive adrenaline rush, it's not rocket surgery to work out that the best thing to do is to give them a long clear chute to go down so that they can slow down and recover unimpeded. The people shouldn't be there and he shouldn't have run into them but neither of them should have been put in that position in the first place. The Vuelta organisers really do seem to be going all out for the 2023 couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery award at the moment.

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Left_is_for_Losers replied to Rendel Harris | 1 year ago
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Rendel Harris wrote:

All the comments saying Remco could have avoided it are correct, but the bigger question is why should he have been put in a position where he had to avoid it? It's a finish line at the top of an incredibly hard mountain, heading downhill after the line to boot. You're going to have riders coming sprinting over the top with severe oxygen depletion coupled with massive adrenaline rush, it's not rocket surgery to work out that the best thing to do is to give them a long clear chute to go down so that they can slow down and recover unimpeded. The people shouldn't be there and he shouldn't have run into them but neither of them should have been put in that position in the first place. The Vuelta organisers really do seem to be going all out for the 2023 couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery award at the moment.

Strange that all the other 170+ riders managed to avoid everyone though. 

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Rendel Harris replied to Left_is_for_Losers | 1 year ago
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You can see them on the "Sporza" video above braking pretty sharpish when they see what happened to Remco and stopping just short of the crowd which is scattering anyway. No need always to think the worst of everybody.

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Secret_squirrel | 1 year ago
1 like

I think Evenopoel needs to take some of the blame for this one.  Whilst the finish arrangement was a bit crap, a bit less showboating and the crash wouldnt have happened.  You can clearly see the 2nd place rider in the background coming to a stop with plenty of space to spare as Remco crashes.

I also take issue with the snarky mobile phone comment at the top of this article.  Its not as if she wandered into his way.

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peted76 | 1 year ago
2 likes

I think Evenopoel just thought/expected that those people would move out of the way..  which on any other finish line is exactly what would have happened. Also unexpected for their to be a barrier/block so close after the line. All a bit weird.

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Left_is_for_Losers | 1 year ago
3 likes

Bit of a stupid crash in my opinion. There were loads of people there - he just expected to ride straight through them. Doesnt look like anyone else had an issue. 

Just a bit of arrogance on his part I think. 

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Off the back | 1 year ago
2 likes

Looking at the speed he approached, even if the spectator wasnt there, the gap in the barrier didnt look particularly wide. What would have happened if a larger group of riders came through at that pace? The barriers should have been a lot further back than that im sure. 

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darnac | 1 year ago
0 likes

The winds have been quite strong here just over the border on the French side where I live but everything quietened down in the period that the race was finishing

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