Germany’s national track cycling championships were abandoned after a 60km/h crash on Sunday’s final day of competition saw two spectators airlifted to hospital.
The two riders involved escaped with “only scrapes and bruises”, according to German news outlet SWR. However, during the incident they “flew over the guardrail” and several spectators were injured.
It reportedly happened during a semi-final of the elite Keirin, the two riders in a “scramble for position” when they crashed into the stands of Dudenhofen Velodrome in western Germany.
The director of a local emergency service team suggested there were 12 injuries, including the two riders involved, and two spectators who were seriously injured had been airlifted to hospital. Two air ambulance helicopters, six ambulances and an emergency doctor attended the scene, with the track meeting unsurprisingly abandoned following the incident.
A sports director for the German Cycling Federation, Patrick Moster, suggested “a riding error occurred, resulting in this crash” and that it was at “relatively high speed”.
Commenting on the incident and response, Thomas Hauser, the director of a local rescue service confirmed: “A cyclist flew over the guardrail and several spectators were injured.
“There are a total of twelve victims, including the cyclists themselves. Two more seriously injured people were transported by helicopter to nearby hospitals. Another eight injured people, who were in the spectator area, were taken to nearby hospitals with abrasions and cuts. There was no alternative to cancelling the event.”
A German Cycling spokesperson commented: “The health of athletes and spectators always comes first. Therefore, there was no alternative to cancelling the event.”
Jens Hartwig, chairman of RV Dudenhofen 1908 added: “I’m shocked by the accident. We’ve been enjoying a cycling festival here in Dudenhofen for five days. Of course, no one wanted the event to end like this.”
Dudenhofen is an outdoor track with a relatively small capacity, however similar incidents have also happened at larger indoor venues too, perhaps most notably during the 2022 Commonwealth Games when a spectator was left with a “machete-like” injury when British rider Matt Walls was catapulted over the barriers.
That incident prompted Lee Valley VeloPark to install a new 1.4m-high Perspex safety barrier around the track, which it described as a “UK first”.
However, in December 2024, British rider Katy Marchant suffered a broken arm and two dislocated fingers in a crash at the same venue, having crashed into the crowd in only the second event since the taller safety barriers fitted, prompting questions about why they had not done their job.
That incident saw Lee Valley VeloPark’s owners promise to “explore” ways to improve rider and fan safety.
1 thought on “Two spectators airlifted to hospital after track cyclists crash into crowd at 60km/h during German national championships”
That barrier system does look
That barrier system does look a little low.