Riders crash into race director's car at junior edition of Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne – Video
Car stops suddenly at start of race causing accident but all riders remount
The junior edition of Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne on Sunday had to be stopped for 20 minutes soon after the start following a crash caused by the race director's car braking suddenly.
Several riders hit the ground during the race's neutral start when the car stopped, but they were all able to remount and the race went on its way again after the short break.
"The driver has been working on the race for several years, but something seems to have gone wrong with the car's automatic gearbox, causing it to come to a standstill," race organiser Maarten Clochet told HLN.be. "I thought the race was going to have to be cancelled, but fortunately none of the riders involved were seriously injured, and we were able to re-start the race after a delay of 21 minutes."
Stickybottle.com tweeted a video that was published on Facebook by the Dutch Streetjump-Forte Development Team, which was taking part in the race, showing how the organisation car was preparing to wave the riders on their way before the unfortunate incident.
Seventeen-year-old Dutchman Casper Van Uden won the race – which was won in 2018 by Remco Evenepoel, who now rides for WorldTour team Deceuninck-QuickStep. The Belgian team won the senior men's event this year thanks to Bob Jungels.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
Cyclingnews is the world's leader in English-language coverage of professional cycling. Started in 1995 by University of Newcastle professor Bill Mitchell, the site was one of the first to provide breaking news and results over the internet in English. The site was purchased by Knapp Communications in 1999, and owner Gerard Knapp built it into the definitive voice of pro cycling. Since then, major publishing house Future PLC has owned the site and expanded it to include top features, news, results, photos and tech reporting. The site continues to be the most comprehensive and authoritative English voice in professional cycling.