The Lotto Soudal team confirmed that promising young Belgian Bjorg Lambrecht has died following a crash during stage 3 of the Tour de Pologne. According to reports, the 22-year-old crashed into a concrete culvert with just over 50km to go in the 150.5km stage from Chorzów to Zabrze.
Lambrecht was resuscitated and taken to a hospital in critical condition. Michał Sieroń, spokesman for Provincial Specialist Hospital No. 3 in Rybnik confirmed to Sport.pl that Lambrecht did not survive the surgery. Lambrecht's death was later confirmed by the Lotto Soudal team.
There were conflicting reports of the seriousness of his condition following the crash, with the official race Twitter announcing that Lambrecht "needed helicopter transport to a hospital following emergency reanimaton", while the race's live feed cited "unofficial information" that "doctors managed to bring life functions back to Bjorg Lambrecht (Lotto-Soudal), but his condition didn't allow for transportation by helicopter. He was taken to hospital by ambulance."
Lambrecht was an up-and-coming talent, having won the U23 Liège - Bastogne - Liège and come second in the Tour de l'Avenir, Giro Ciclistico della Valle d'Aosta Mont Blanc, Tour de Savoie Mont Blanc and Ronde de l'Isard in 2017.
He turned professional with Lotto Soudal in 2018. This season he finished just shy of the podium in La Flèche Wallonne, the Amstel Gold Race and De Brabantse Pijl, and winning the young riders classification in the Critérium du Dauphiné, finishing 12th overall.
Lambrecht re-signed with Lotto Soudal for two more years in June.
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