Biniam Girmay run over in ‘horrible’ crash at Tour of Flanders, forced to abandon

Biniam Girmay (Intermarche–Circus–Wanty) was accidentally run over by a number of riders in a terrible crash at the Tour of Flanders.

The Eritrean, who sat up shortly after the incident, was among half a dozen riders to hit the deck after a touch of wheels in the peloton with 71km remaining of the cobbled Monument.

Aime De Gendt had no time to avoid his team-mate, running him over and flipping off his bike, before Girmay took more hits on the tarmac. Matej Mohoric (Bahrain-Victorious) was also wiped out in the carnage, with Girmay and De Gendt withdrawing due to the crash.

“Another horrible, horrible crash,” said Dan Lloyd on Eurosport commentary.

“That road into the foot of the Kanarieberg is a descent, so they would have been doing upwards of 70kph at that point and fighting for position.”

The incident occurred as Jumbo-Visma ramped up the pace to get home favourite Wout van Aert in position.

Girmay is hoping to follow up his brilliant breakout year in 2022 when he became the first Black African to win a stage at a Grand Tour. He saw off Mathieu van der Poel in a thrilling finale on Stage 10 in Italy, before having to leave the race after taking a prosecco cork to the eye in the celebrations.

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