Yannick Eijssen’s Tour of Beijing 2011 finishes after the stage 3 crash
Belgian cyclist, Yannick Eijssen, had to withdraw from the Tour of Beijing 2011, at stage 3, after colliding with a motorcyclist. His marathon ended on account of this accidental crash that Yannick had no control over.
The cause of the accident remains unclear but it appears as an advertising board got loose and hit a TV motorcyclist who could not take hold of his bike thereon and ran into the Belgian rider.
Eijssen was treated at the Yanqing County Hospital and it was believed that he might have broken a leg but he was lucky to survive without any major fractures.
Eijssen was unconscious after the crash and was taken to the hospital straight away. He was treated by Dr. Scott Major who stated that Eijssen “suffered some facial abrasions, including a small fracture around his upper teeth”.
Eijssen finished second at the UCI Juniors World Cup 2007, a perfect start for the young rider. He also won the Belgian cycling race and Beverbeek Classics in 2010.
Yannick started his professional career as an internee with Omega Pharma in 2010 and joined BMC Racing team in 2011.
He finished the first stage of the Tour of Beijing 2011, 1 minute and 35 seconds behind the race leader, Tony Martin of HTC-Highroad.
Eijssen was at 108th position after the stage 2 general classifications.
The 22-year-old was amongst the three riders, including Joost Posthuma and Tom Stamsnijder, both of team Leopard-Trek, who could not finish the 3rd stage of Tour of Beijing 2011.
A famous cycling website, Cyclingnews.com received the information about the crash stating, “The TV helicopter was flying pretty low at that time and it was windy too. It's perhaps a combination of those two factors which blew the barricade down”.
The helicopter was from Beijing TV that broadcasted the pictures of the race. The organizers took serious action after the crash and it was suggested that the helicopter should avoid flying too low in future races.
It is believed that the cyclist will be released from the hospital ‘soon’ as it was mentioned on the Tour of Beijing's official website.
The 189.5 kilometre stage 4 of the race will be held on 8th October, before it concludes on Sunday.
Tony Martin of HTC-Highroad is leading the stage 3 general classifications while David Millar of Garmin-Cervelo is 17 seconds behind at second position.
Christopher Froome and Stephen Cummings of team Sky Procycling are at third and fourth positions, respectively, after the stage 3 of Tour of Beijing 2011.
German cyclist, Tony Martin of team HTC-Highroad, won the first ever edition of Tour of Beijing 2011 as he finished the race in 13:39:11.
Team Sky Procycling won the event as the leading team with Omega Pharma- Lotto at second and team Rabobank at third position.
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