🎥 Video footage of Affini crash raises doubts after reassuring Visma | Lease a Bike update

Visma | Lease a Bike will already be without two key riders in the Tour de France, but this Thursday, the team got the shock of their lives when Edoardo Affini also took a hard fall during the Italian time trial championship. The Dutch team provided a reassuring update that evening, but new footage doesn't look good for the Italian rider.

Visma | Lease a Bike has already suffered two setbacks ahead of the Tour de France, with the withdrawals of Christophe Laporte and Wout van Aert. The Frenchman tore a thigh muscle in a crash, and the Belgian developed an infection in his elbow after crashing during the Tour Auvergne–Rhône-Alpes. As a result, the Killer Bees had to call up Per Strand Hagenes and Davide Piganzoli as replacements.

With two riders already out, the team would dearly hope that no one else would suffer a crash ahead of La Grande Boucle, but things went wrong anyway during the Italian time trial championship. Affini, a former European champion and one of the top contenders to challenge favorite Filippo Ganna, reportedly took a hard fall and was forced to withdraw. That news was later confirmed.

The top sprinter, who lives in Drenthe and speaks Dutch fluently, was taken to the hospital for a checkup. There were concerns, but ultimately Visma | Lease a Bike provided a relatively reassuring update. “Edoardo took a hard fall, was taken to the hospital, and never lost consciousness. Tests at the hospital showed no fractures. His recovery will be monitored over the next few days.”

This is a boost ahead of the Tour, but it hasn’t been confirmed yet whether he’ll be there. And when we see the footage of the crash, it certainly makes us think twice. The crash itself wasn’t caught on camera, but the aftermath was: Affini can be seen next to the guardrails, with a bike whose front tire has come off the rim. Was that the cause of the crash? It’s not clear. His helmet was also damaged, and the Italian rider was unable to get into the ambulance on his own: he had to be carried out on a stretcher.