Tour de France: Philippe Gilbert’s race over after ‘lucky escape’ following stage 16 crash into ravine
The Quick-Step veteran is 57.2 kilometres from the finish and in the lead of the 218km-long 16th stage when he negotiates a bend badly
Quick-Step veteran Gilbert was 57.2 kilometres from the finish and in the lead of the 218km-long 16th stage when he negotiated a bend badly and flew headfirst over a wall.
Although he was helped back onto his bike to finish the stage, won by French teammate Julian Alaphilippe, Gilbert emerged from the X-ray truck suffering from his endeavours.
His team said that after further tests at a hospital in Toulouse, the fracture was discovered, meaning he had to pull out of the race.
“I want to say that I’m happy to be here after that tough moment,” he said.
“This isn’t how I wanted to finish my Tour and leaving it like this really hurts.”
Quick-Step bosses panicked when Gilbert went over the wall – it was on the same descent, albeit several kilometres below, that Italian Fabio Casartelli died in a horrible crash in 1995.