Vingegaard has collapsed lung after crash in Basque Country race. Tour de France defense is in doubt

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Two-time defending Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard remained hospitalized in Spain a day after he broke his collarbone and several ribs in a bad crash with other top riders during the Tour of Basque Country.

The Danish rider’s Visma-Lease A Bike team said Friday that further tests revealed the Vingegaard also suffered a collapsed lung and a pulmonary contusion. The team said that cycling’s leading star was “stable and had a good night” but remains in a hospital in the northern Spanish city of Vitoria.

The accident comes less than three months before the start of the Tour on June 29 when Vingegaard is scheduled to to again face off against top rival Tadej Pogačar. That highly anticipated rematch is now in doubt.

Vingegaard was hardly moving as he was put in an ambulance wearing an oxygen mask and neck brace after the crash occurred on Thursday with less than 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) left in the race’s fourth stage.

The pileup also took out cycling stars Primoz Roglič and Remco Evenepoel.

Evenepoel, considered one of the favorites for the road race at the Paris Games, broke a collarbone and his right shoulder blade and was set to undergo surgery when he returns to Belgium on Friday, his Soudal Quick-Step team said.

The accident happened as riders were making what looked to be a conventional right-hand turn going downhill when one rider’s front tire appeared to slip out and send other cyclists off the road. There were some large rocks and trees in the area, though it wasn’t clear if any of the riders hit them. There was also a concrete drainage ditch place on the edge of the curve.

Roglic, a three-time Spanish Vuelta winner, emerged with just scratches but he did have to abandon the race he was leading.

Vingegaard was trying to defend the tittle he won last year at the six-day Tour of Basque Country.

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