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Tour de France cyclist Daniel Oss broke his his neck when he collided with spectators, forcing him to exit this year’s competition.
Oss, an Italian cyclist competing with the road racing team Team TotalEnergies, collided with fans during Wednesday’s Stage 5, which took racers 157 kilometers (97.5 miles) between the cities of Lille and Arenberg, France, according to theTour de France website.
Oss finished Wednesday’s stage after the incident, according toCNN, but Team TotalEnergies confirmed in a statementposted to Twitterthat the Italian pro will leave the Tour de France as a result of injuries sustained in the collision.
“Additional examinations revealed a fracture of a cervical vertebra requiring immobilization for a few weeks,” the team wrote in a statement.
“The whole team wishes you a good recovery, Daniel,” the statement added.
The 2022 Tour de France Stage 5 included a total of 19.4 kilometers (12.04 miles) of “narrow, rough cobbled road,” like what Oss was riding on when the collision occurred, according toBicycling Magazine. Multiple crashes were reported during Wednesday’s stage, but not all resulted in injuries as serious as Oss' broken neck, according to CNN.
The Tour de France did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on the incident.
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Australian Simon Clarke won Wednesday’s Stage 5, according to theTour de France website. As of Friday, Slovenian Tadej Pogačarleads the competitionat large.
The Tour de France runs through July 24.
source: people.com
