🎥 Merlier injured, other sprinters also suffer after Bruges-De Panne, how are Kooij, Fretin, and others doing?

All team managers will have shouted it from the rooftops: in the last five kilometers, you have to be at the front. It is no coincidence that the first crash occurred 4.9 kilometers from the finish. Alberto Dainese, Robin Froidevaux (Tudor), Lindsay De Vylder (Flanders-Baloise), Juri Hollman (Alpecin-Deceuninck), and Damien Touzé (Cofidis) were among those who saw the asphalt up close. De Vylder suffered a wound to his eye.

Still not fully recovered from the crash, many Intermarché-Wanty riders were suddenly on the ground. This meant that sprinter Gerben Thijssen could no longer compete for a good result, while two teammates were also left behind. Arne Marit, who was at home, devised a solution on X. "If we, as Belgium, want to stay a country with cycling roots, we need fewer traffic obstacles. Thijssen and Huub Artz were taken to the hospital.

And we weren't done yet. Milan Fretin (Cofidis) was caught up in the peloton pile-up and crashed to the ground, taking many men with him. Teammate Piet Allegaert hit the ground hard with his head on the gravel along the road, and many Lotto riders were also injured. Arnaud Démare (Arkéa - B&B Hotels) was also among them. Fretin had already suffered a shoulder injury but eventually crossed the finish line. "I have a lot of abrasions, but luckily, my shoulder wasn't hit," he said. Lotto later announced that Lionel Taminiaux had suffered a collapsed lung and a broken rib.

The peloton had already been considerably thinned out, but several riders were again on the ground just before the crucial narrowing 800 meters from the finish line. Edward Theuns (Lidl-Trek) was hit as he lay on the ground, and riders tumbled across the entire width of the road - insofar as there was one. Olav Kooij (Visma | Lease a Bike) and Tim Merlier (Soudal Quick-Step) saw their chances increase in smoke. His team said the Dutch rider came out of it relatively unscathed, with only what appeared to be abrasions. Merlier immediately got into the car.

"He immediately asked for the doctor on the radio, which is never a good sign," said sports director Iljo Keisse of Soudal Quick-Step. "We will have to wait and see what the doctor says for the next few days and weeks,' he said. 'It is a bit more than just abrasions. He has an intense wound on his knee, which they are currently treating. We will see."

"We were in a good position as a team, but a crash was inevitable," said Grischa Niermann of Visma | Lease a Bike. "The finale was simply too dangerous today. The narrowing of the road in the final kilometers caused some risky situations. Unfortunately, Olav also hit the ground, but the damage seems manageable and limited to abrasions. He has some big goals coming up, so we will have to wait and see how he digests this crash."

Also, a victim? Lukas Kubis (Unibet Tietema Rockets), Nikias Arndt (Bahrain Victorious), Robbe Ghys (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Paul Penhoët (Groupama-FDJ), and Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X), but also several other riders who could not be immediately identified. Let's hope everyone is doing well...