Itzulia Basque Country cancelled after star hospitalised from sickening crash

A two-time Tour de France champion was rushed to hospital following a horror crash that ultimately saw the race cancelled.

A number of cyclists were involved in a huge crash on stage 4 of the Itzulia Basque Country.

The incident took place as the cyclists descended at high speed around a tight right hand corner from the summit of the Olaeta climb in northern Spain, The Sun reports.

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One rider appeared to slide out and lose their balance while attempting the bend.

This then sparked a chain reaction where as many as 12 riders, including two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard, fell in incident.

Vingegaard was one of the worst affected by the crash.

The 27-year-old Dane was seen being supplied with oxygen by paramedics but remained on the floor for several minutes afterwards.

He was then carried from the race on a stretcher in a neck brace and taken to a nearby hospital.

“Jonas is conscious and will be examined in the hospital now. Thank you for your messages. More updates later,” his team Visma-Lease a Bike reported on X.

Sports director Addy Engels added: “Fortunately, he was conscious when we arrived to him. Jonas is now being examined at the hospital. We are waiting for any updates.”

The team later confirmed he had suffered a broken collarbone and broken several ribs.

You can watch the horror incident in the video player above

The two-time TdF champ was taken to hospital

Belgian ace Remco Evenepoel was another to emerge battered and bruised from the horror accident.

“Remco will return to Belgium tomorrow to be operated on a broken collarbone and pass further tests at the hospital at Herentals,” his Soudal-Quick Step team announced.

His injuries have ruled him out of upcoming one-day classics in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Other big names involved in the crash who were taken to hospital were Jay Vine and Steff Cras, while Primoz Roglic was also involved and did not finish the stage.

“Over the radio we heard that Jonas was involved in a big crash,” said Visma sports director Addy Engels. “We immediately saw that it didn’t look good when we arrived to him.”

The huge crash led to the race being neutralised with 27.9km to go.

The aftermath of the horror crash

Initially only the Untzilla climb was taken out of the route before the race was eventually neutralised to the finish line.

“The race is neutralised until the finish line, the 6 leading runners will compete in the stage but the stage times will not be counted for the general classification,” a statement from organisers said.

“The peleton will go in neutral until the finish line.”

However, the president of the Cyclistes Professionnels Associés - the largest international association of professional cyclists - has slammed TV coverage of the crash.

“Out of respect of riders that have fallen in a crash and their families at home,” he wrote on social media.

“The CPA does not support TV coverage to continue to film them while they are down.

“Riders have reached out to me asking if we can make this a rule and we support that. Please be mindful.”

This article originally appeared on The Sun and was reproduced with permission.