Amaury Capiot fractures sacrum, pelvis in Tour de France sprint lead-out crash
Arkéa-B&B Hotels rider forced to abandon on stage 14 after collision with Lotto-Dstny's Maxim Van Gils in stage 13 sprint
Amaury Capiot sustained fractures to his sacrum and pelvis in a crash that happened on the stage 13 sprint finish in Pau at the Tour de France last Saturday.
According to a medical update from his team, Arkéa-B&B Hotels, the French rider underwent x-rays to confirm his injuries, but they have not yet revealed a timeline for his recovery.
"Following his crash during the Pau stage of the Tour de France, Amaury Capiot underwent further tests, which revealed a non-displaced sacral fracture, as well as a left peri-symphyseal fracture. His duration of unavailability will be communicated later," Arkéa-B&B Hotels released a medical update on Thursday, five days after the crash.
Capiot was involved in a crash that happened when Lotto Dstny's and Arkéa-B&B Hotels' respective lead-out riders collided against the barriers on the left side of the road with roughly 700 metres to go on the run-in to the finish line in Pau.
Arnaud De Lie's Lotto-Dstny lead-out rider, Maxim Van Gils, was handed a 1500CHF fine and lost 60 UCI points for improper conduct: "hit with the shoulder that endangered other riders."
Video footage of the crash shows Van Gils launching his final lead-out for De Lie on the left-hand side of the road, carrying a high speed close to the barriers with 750 metres to go. At the same moment, Capiot, having completed his lead-out for Arnaud Démare, looked back over his shoulder and eased to the left toward the barriers just as Van Gils came up from behind and squeezed through the narrow gap, and the pair bumped shoulders.
Several riders, including Capiot, Cees Bol (Astana Qazaqstan), Mattéo Vercher (TotalEnergies), and Axel Zingle (Cofidis) went down in the crash just as the peloton wound up for the final sprint.
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Capiot started stage 14 but was quickly dropped from the back of the peloton and then abandoned the Tour de France due to his injuries.
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Kirsten Frattini is the Deputy Editor of Cyclingnews, overseeing the global racing content plan.
Kirsten has a background in Kinesiology and Health Science. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's biggest races, reporting on the WorldTour, Spring Classics, Tours de France, World Championships and Olympic Games.
She began her sports journalism career with Cyclingnews as a North American Correspondent in 2006. In 2018, Kirsten became Women's Editor – overseeing the content strategy, race coverage and growth of women's professional cycling – before becoming Deputy Editor in 2023.