Steff Cras has recounted his experience of the mass crash that blighted last week’s Itzulia Basque Country, telling La Dernière Heure that he had “a brush with death” in the incident.
The Belgian suffered a collapsed lung, broken ribs and two fractured vertebrae when he was among the many fallers on the descent from Olaeta with 35km remaining on stage 4. Jonas Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel and Primož Roglič also sustained injuries in the same crash.
Cras spent four nights in hospital in San Sebastian before returning to Belgium on Monday. The TotalEnergies rider was due to undergo further assessment in Herentals on Tuesday.
“I was scared to death because I couldn't breathe for thirty seconds,” Cras told La Dernière Heure. “I only had one functioning lung.
“I had a brush with death. I realised when I saw the concrete block [at the side of the road] that I would have been dead if I’d fallen 20cm further away. Honestly, I was very lucky.”
Cras remained hopeful that he would be able to return to competition in time for the Tour de France. He was forced to abandon last year’s Tour when he crashed after a spectator stepped into the road on stage 8. He recovered in time to ride the Vuelta a España, where he placed 11th overall.
On Tuesday, Visma-Lease A Bike stated that Vingegaard had undergone successful surgery on his broken collarbone after the Itzulia crash, though the Dane reportedly remains in hospital in Vitoria. His Tour de France defence is in doubt, with Visma acknowledging that it is “not yet clear” how long his recovery will take.
Vingegaard’s former teammate Roglič abandoned Itzulia after coming down in the same crash, though the Slovenian sustained no broken bones. His participation in the Ardennes Classics remains uncertain, but on Tuesday, Bora-Hansgrohe signalled that he had returned to training by publishing a picture of Roglič aboard his turbo trainer.
Evenepoel underwent surgery on his broken collarbone in Herentals on Friday. The Belgian will not recover in time to seek a third straight Liège-Bastogne-Liège victory, but Soudal-QuickStep directeur sportif Klaas Lodewyck indicated that he remained on course to make his Tour debut in July. “His participation in the Tour should not be in danger,” Lodewyck said.
