Lotto-Soudal’s Stig Broeckx was amongst the many riders caught up in a serious crash at the Baloise Belgium Tour today involving two race motorbikes and the Belgian rider was transferred to a hospital in Aachen immediately afterwards.
He was initially reported as having a fractured skull, but his team have now stated that he hasn’t in fact fractured his skull but has bleeding on the brain and is in a non-induced coma.
They have also stated that at this moment, it’s very difficult to provide a full prognosis about a full recovery. The statement from the team is as follows:
This afternoon Stig Broeckx got seriously hurt in an accident during the third stage of the Belgium Tour. In a descent the young Belgian was involved in a crash of about twenty riders, caused by a crash of two motorbikes. Broeckx was seriously injured and he immediately received medical attention at the side of the road, afterwards a helicopter transported him to the hospital of Aachen.
Team doctor Servaas Bingé: “It was immediately clear that Stig had incurred a head injury and that he needed to be transported to a neurosurgical centre. Together with the race doctor and the medical emergency team we decided to transport him to the hospital of Aachen, which has the necessary infrastructure. A scan was taken at the hospital and it showed that Stig has two bleedings in his brain. Stig is in a non-induced coma, but for the moment he doesn’t need to undergo surgery. He doesn’t have a skull fracture, but he does have a fractured eye socket, which will be further evaluated later. At this point, it is very difficult to give a prognosis about a full recovery. The next 24 hours he will be very closely monitored.”
Manager Marc Sergeant: “Of course we are very shaken by all that has happened today. Last year our team had very difficult moments after the accident of Kris Boeckmans, exactly three months ago Stig was already hit by a motorbike in Kuurne and a few weeks later the peloton had to cope with the death of Antoine Demoitié. This is very hard for all staff members and riders, but even more for the family and friends of Stig. We can only hope that there is a positive evolution in the condition of Stig and we will support him and his family the best we can, both medically and emotionally.”
“After the neutralisation, the riders gathered in the team bus and drove to the team hotel were they stayed together to support each other and to talk about what happened. After deliberation we informed the organisation that we won’t ride the last stage of the Belgium Tour. At the moment it is pointless to make any accusations, but it should have been obvious much longer that structural measures concerning the safety of the riders are necessary.”
We will inform you as soon as there is any significant evolution in the condition of Stig Broeckx and we’d like to thank the cycling family for all support.
