As expected, the opening weekend of Belgian racing produced its fair share of thrills, but also a...
Somewhere in there is the World Champion (Image credit: Bettini Photo)
As expected, the opening weekend of Belgian racing produced its fair share of thrills, but also a few spills with several riders hitting the deck early on in Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne. World champion Paolo Bettini (Quick Step) fell victim to a crash after just nine kilometres and was taken to hospital.
Fortunately, the Italian was not seriously injured, suffering only a bruise to his left knee, back pains and various other scrapes and bruises. He was not required to stay long in hospital and is expected to resume training on Monday. "I was very scared," Bettini said of the incident. "But fortunately I was able to hit the brakes and avoid the worst of it."
The news for Silence-Lotto's Bart Dockx was not so good, as he broke his hip. High Road's Adam Hansen was also involved in the crash as was Team CSC's Stuart O'Grady. Hansen was taken to the hospital with facial wounds according to team spokesman Stefan Wagner, while O'Grady hurt his knee and abandoned at the feed zone.
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