Bart Wellens (Telenet-Fidea) was forced to abandon yesterday’s Superprestige race in Gieten, Netherlands after crashing heavily on the icy surface and landing on his head. The two-time World champion was about to rejoin the lead group, which included his teammate Tom Meeusen and Belgian champion Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet), when he slipped on a left turn. After a few moments he remounted but was unable to
Wellens landed hard on his head in a ditch but initial fears that he was seriously hurt were proved groundless after he was checked over in hospital.
“My helmet took such a blow that it broke into five pieces,” Wellens said after the race. “I was completely groggy; everything hurt. I tried to continue riding, but couldn’t get going so I gave up; I had great pain in my arm and my neck.
“I really hope it is not serious," he sighed.
On his journey home Wellens’ pain was no better so team doctor Peter T'Seyen accompanied him to the emergency room of the the Sint-Daphneziekenhuis hospital in Geel, Belgium. There was a severe contusion from the neck down but no fractures; it was also feared that he had broken the scaphoid bone in his wrist but luckily this was not the case.
The 32-year-old left the hospital with a neck-brace on, but his injuries are not expected to affect his upcoming race programme.
"He will be in pain for two to four weeks,” said T’Seyen. “He may not be able to pull his handlebars, but he’ll be all right soon; it could have ended much worse. Neither his training camp in Spain, nor the next World Cup in Igorre, Spain [on December 5th] are under threat."