Phew! Michael Vanthourenhout seems to have come out of his crash at the Tábor World Cup without any lasting injuries. The leader of Pauwels Sauzen-Altez Industriebouw took a heavy fall on the asphalt on Sunday while entering the start-finish straight, dashing his chances of a strong result in the Czech Republic.
Entering the sixth lap, Vanthourenhout was riding in a group with Joris Nieuwenhuis, Emiel Verstrynge, and Jente Michels behind the solo leader Thibau Nys. In the cold conditions of Tábor, several riders had already gone down on the muddy course, but Vanthourenhout crashed hard on the asphalt, landing directly on his left shoulder.
Vanthourenhout stayed down for a long time, forcing the riders behind to avoid him. Lars van der Haar didn’t realize this and also collided with his Belgian colleague. Only then was Vanthourenhout able to slowly get up and remount his bike. He resumed around twentieth position, already nearly two minutes behind the competition and visibly in pain.
Not a good sign, then. But Pauwels Sauzen-Altez Industriebouw now report that the pain in his shoulder is not as bad as initially feared after the crash; he apparently only sustained some abrasions. For the time being, no hospital visit is planned for a check-up, the team informed us on Monday afternoon.
