British cycling legend Mark Cavendish has been stretcher out of the velodrome after a horror crash at the Six Days of Ghent,
The 36-year old suffered two broken ribs and a collapsed lung after crashing heavily after rider crashed ahead of him.
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Cavendish is a Tour de France veteran and has won a record-equalling 34 stages in cycling’s greatest race.
Cavendish was riding in the Madison on Sunday when Danish world and Olympic champion Lasse Norman Hansen crashed in front of him after Gerben Thijssen slipped on a wet patch on the track and shot up the side of the velodrome.
It saw him clip Hansen and leave Cavendish nowhere to go.
Cavendish was treated by the trackside and stood up to thank the crowd but was taken out on a stretcher to hospital.
“Examinations showed that Mark has suffered two broken ribs on this left side and has a small pneumothorax (collapsed lung), both of which have been treated with medication. He has been kept in the hospital for observation,” his team Deceuninck Quick-Step said in a statement.
“It is expected that Mark will be discharged either later today or tomorrow morning, and will then undergo a period of recuperation.”
Cavendish himself took to social media to thank everyone for their well wishes.
“Just want to say how overwhelmed & thankful I am for all the support and well-wishes,” he wrote.
“So @zesdaagsegent didn’t end the way we’d have preferred, I think it’s fair to say. Some water on the track, a high-speed crash and a few barrel rolls later, I’m being treated for some broken ribs & a pneumothorax. In a bit of pain, but a couple of nights with the incredible staff here at Ghent University Hospital @uzgent should sort me out.”
Cavendish’s former Page 3 model wife Peta also thanked all those who jumped to Cavendish’s aid.
“Thank you for all the messages. Thank you to all the medical staff that helped us and also to the Deceuninck – Quick-Step staff that sprung into action to help me and the kids.”
Fellow racer Jasper De Buyst told Sporza that it shouldn’t have ended like that.
“Stupid that it has to happen like this,” he said.
“I had noticed the lap before that there was some water, but then I ran over it at a slower speed. The next round it went completely wrong.”
Hansen continued to race and appeared to come off rather unscathed.
“I don’t feel great, my body is quite stiff,” he said.
“I did get the doctor’s approval to continue but I’m already feeling better.”
— with AFP