Johnny Hoogerland to sue Euro Media for the 2011 Tour de France crash
Johnny Hoogerland became part of one of the most devastating crashes during the Tour de France 2011 after the French Media car pushed him onto the barbed wires.
The cyclist has now decided to sue the Euro Media driver who not only ruined Hoogerland’s Tour goals but also made him abandon various other races.
Johnny held the mountains jersey at the Tour for five stages, through stage 6-7 and 9-11 and was looking in good form for the contest.
He was riding behind Team Sky’s Juan Antonio Flecha when the French Television car swiped away the Spaniard which caused Hoogerland to crash on the barbed wire fence during the stage 9 of the race.
“We have tried long enough” to come to an agreement”, Johnny’s Team Manager Aart Vierhouten told De Telegraaf.
“That failed, so unfortunately we have to take a different tack. And that is through the judicial process”.
“Yesterday I actually had an appointment with a representative of Euro Media, but he never showed up.”
“Tour organizer ASO will have nothing to do with the matter, he said. “This week I was in Paris to ask the ASO if they would take any responsibility”.
“All they say is, you must talk to the director of Euro Media. They gave us his number, nothing more. The human aspect is hard to find”.
He started riding professionally with Team Van Hermet-Eurogifts for 2004-05 seasons and also represented Team Jartazi-7Mobile for 2006 season and joined Team Van Vliet-EBH Advocaten in 2007-08.
The Dutch penned a deal with Team Vacansoleil in 2009 and is continuing his third consecutive season with the side.
He has still not fully recovered from the crash and is experiencing mood swings, insomnia and back pain since the Tour crash last year.
The Dutch is all set to represent Team Vacansoleil at the 2012 version of the Tour de France with the King of Mountain classifications as his major goal.
Team Vacansoleil-DCM full squad for the Tour de 2012 Tour de France includes, Kris Boeckmans (Bel), Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) and Gustav Erik Larsson (Swe).
Marco Marcato (Ita), Wouter Poels (Ned), Rob Ruygh (Ned), Rafael Valls Ferri (Spa), Kenny Robert Van Hummel (Ned) and Lieuwe Westra (Ned) will also help the team during the race.
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