Radomir Simunek (Palmans-Cras) won Saturday’s World Cup warm-up race, the UCI C2 in Lebbeke, Belgium, over Bart Wellens (Fidea) and Davy Commeyne (Revor Cycling Team). While Niels Albert and Lars Boom rested for Sunday’s World Cup opener, Sven Nys (Landbouwkrediet) is probably wishing he did the same.
Halfway through the race on lap six, Nys tripped on a barrier and while falling, hit his face on his tumbling bike, cutting his eyebrow and causing severe bleeding. After briefly trying to rejoin the race, he gave up and had to be transported to the hospital. Although he initially feared fracturing his eye socket, X-rays did not reveal any broken bones. However, he required stitches on his eyebrow and will decide in the morning whether he races Sunday’s World Cup. He described his current condition, “My whole eye is fully closed and my arm and finger hurt.” On starting tomorrow, he said he’ll wait till tomorrow to make a decision, reasoning that “even though it is a World Cup cross, I will not take unnecessary risks.”
Nys’ crash on Saturday:
