Argentinian sprinter collided with a tree at 70 km/h on the descent off the Tiegemberg
While Wednesday was an overall banner day for Bjarne Riis’s Saxo Bank team with wins in both Belgium and Spain, it wasn’t a great day for everyone. Saxo Bank’s Juan Jose Haedo endured a day he’d soon like to forget…if it weren’t for the reminders he’ll be carrying with him for the next few weeks.
Contador’s dominating win at the Volta a Catalunya and Nuyens’s likewise impressive win at the Dwars door Vlaanderen were top news for the boys in baby blue and black, but Juan Jose Haedo’s frightening crash on the descent of the Tiegemberg en route to the Dwars door Vlaanderen’s finish in Waregem was cause for concern.
At the time, it wasn’t known exactly what happened to Haedo. Dane Michael Morkov saw the Argentinian crumpled on the side of the road and described his impressions to feltet.dk after the race.
“I have not yet spoken with him, but the last time I saw him, he was on the side of the road waiting for the ambulance. We’ve been told by [DS] Tristan Hoffman, that he has not broken anything, so hopefully, he’s ready to race this weekend at the E3 Prijs Vlaanderen and Gent-Wevelgem.”
Two days on, and Tristan Hoffman spoke with De Morgen about the status of his recent Tirreno-Adriatico bunch sprint winner.
“He has bumps and bruises all over his body, but he’s getting better.”
Hoffman reports that it was a wayward water bottle that brought Haedo to the ground by way of a tree at 70 kph.
“Haedo crashed when he hit a water bottle, then slammed against a tree. He was in a bad way after the crash, so we took him to the hospital as a precaution.”
Fortunately, everything has turned out ok for Haedo. Apart from bumps, scrapes, and bruises, he’s in one piece and will take the start of Gent-Wevelgem in Deinze on Saturday as a dark horse favorite for the win just over 200 difficult kilometers later.