Marlen Reusser and Kim Le Court-Pienaar both suffered fractures in the Tour of Flanders on Sunday, their teams have confirmed.
The riders both fell heavily in the same incident, just ahead of the Koppenberg, during a race that was hit by several major crashes.
Movistar reported that Reusser had suffered a fractured vertebra in her lower back, whilst AG Insurance-Soudal said that Le Court-Pienaar had fractured her wrist.
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Le Court-Pienaar, fifth in Flanders in 2025 and subsequently a winner of Liège-Bastogne-Liège during the Spring Classics last year, is currently being treated in hospital in Herentals, the team said, where an operation is scheduled for the coming days, as the wrist injury requires surgery.
Four times a top ten finisher in Flanders, with a best placing of fifth in 2022, Reusser will also remain in hospital, Movistar said, for an unspecified period of time. Initial reports had limited her injury to severe bruising in her lower back, but it later emerged she had actually broken a lumbar vertebra.
The veteran Swiss star had just made a very successful return to racing from a long period away following a crash at the UAE Tour, where she had avoided any fractures or concussion, but some deep lacerations to her hand, and particularly her knee, sidelined her for several weeks.
Reusser only came back to racing at Dwars door Vlaanderen, but she immediately impressed in dramatic style, taking a narrow win in a tough three-way sprint against Demi Vollering (FDJ United-SUEZ), subsequently victorious in the Tour of Flanders, and Lieke Nooijen (Visma-Lease a Bike).
The Tour of Flanders Women's race was struck by two bad crashes, with a fall early on when riders collided with a traffic signal involving 20 riders, and then a mass pile-up near the Koppenberg affecting both Le Court-Pienaar and Reusser, amongst others.
Another fall affected another leading favourite, Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime) on the descent from the Koppenberg, causing her to go off the road. She, too, did not finish the race.
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