This post has been updated with further details from Evenepoel’s Soudal-Quick Step team.
Remco Evenepoel has been taken to hospital after a training ride crash involving a postal van.
The 24-year-old is said to have collided with the vehicle’s open door but was thankfully photographed sitting upright before being lifted into an ambulance. He has suffered fractures to his rib, right shoulder blade and his right hand, Soudal-Quick Step confirmed in a statement.
The Belgian Post Group, Bpost, confirmed it was one of their vehicles involved in the incident.
“Such accidents unfortunately happen five times a day. People don’t pay attention and open their door,” Lefevere told Sporza. “Remco has pain in his shoulder and his hand. Our doctor is working on it. His bike broke in two in that incident. But it is better to have his bike in two than his arm.”
“We don’t know much more ourselves,” Evenepoel’s father Patrick told Het Nieuwsblad. “He was taken to the Erasmus Hospital in Anderlecht. He has already sent us a message, so we hope everything is okay. From what I hear, he fell after colliding with the swinging door of a Bpost truck.”
With Bpost understandably reeling after being involved in an incident involving one of the most popular people in Belgium, the company was quick to wish Evenepoel well.
“Unfortunately, we cannot go into the details of the accident, but it goes without saying that the postman and Bpost are fully cooperating with the investigation,” Bpost spokesperson Mathieu Goedefroy told Sporza. “The police have arrived on site to make the necessary observations.
“The postman also stayed at the scene until Remco could be taken to the hospital. They are extremely affected by the incident. We wish Remco a speedy recovery and we hope that the consequences for him will be kept to a minimum.”
In an evening update (local time in Belgium), the Soudal team said that Evenepoel has been transferred to hospital in Herentals for further treatment. His injuries also include contusions to both lungs and a luxated, or disclocated, clavicle. Soudal stated that Evenepoel would have surgery on the clavicle on Tuesday evening (December 3, the same day as the crash) and would likely leave the hospital the next day. The surgery requires a two-week period of immobilisation, with training to resume after.
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