It was the crash that had the cycling world holding its breath: Jonas Vingegaard on the floor, motionless; Remco Evenepoel gingerly holding his shoulder as he picked himself up; Primož Roglič cautiously stumbling to his feet and into his team’s car; Jay Vine with spinal injuries; and Belgian Steff Cras believing “I would have been dead if I’d fallen 20cm further away and hit the concrete block”. In an instant, one sweeping downhill right-hand curve at April’s Itzulia Basque Country threatened the seasons of so many riders, and also threw the much-hyped four-way showdown between the sport’s best GC riders at this summer’s Tour de France into serious peril.
The next day it was reported that Vingegaard had suffered a punctured lung among other injuries, Evenepoel was nursing a fractured collarbone and shoulder blade, and a mummified Roglič sported dozens of plasters and patches. It looked as if an unobstructed path had opened up for Tadej Pogačar to win his third maillot jaune. But now, almost three months on, the prognosis has thankfully improved. Pogačar remains favourite for the Tour after his Giro d’Italia domination but Roglič and Evenepoel have successfully returned to action, the former winning two stages and the GC at the Critérium du Dauphiné and the latter winning the same race’s time trial. Reigning Tour champion Vingegaard hasn’t raced
