Lotto-Soudal rider reportedly in a coma after moto incident

The incident resulted in the cancellation of the third stage of the Belgium Tour

Lotto-Soudal training on Mallorca. Photo: Martin Paldan/GripGrab Media Crew

Stig Broeckx (Lotto-Soudal) is reported to be in a coma after an incident involving a motorbike at the Belgium Tour.

The third stage of the race was initially neutralised but was then cancelled when the seriousness of the crash became clear.

It's thought that a moving moto collided with a stationary moto, and both then collided with a group of riders.

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Broeckx had only recently returned from a broken collarbone suffered in a collision with a motorbike at Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne.

Tony Martin (Etixx-Quick Step), who was in the race but not involved in the crash, tweeted about the incident not long after the race cancellation:

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The UCI press office tweeted a short statement later in the afternoon:

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Other twitter users posted photos of the immediate aftermath:

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This is a new incident in a growing list of collisions involving race vehicles, the regularity of which seem to has increased over the past few seasons.

Earlier this year Antoine Demoitié died after a motorcycle landed on him following a crash. His team, however, refused to blame the moto driver for their rider's death.

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Jack Elton-Walters hails from the Isle of Wight, and would be quick to tell anyone that it's his favourite place to ride. He has covered a varied range of topics for Cycling Weekly, producing articles focusing on tech, professional racing and cycling culture. He moved on to work for Cyclist Magazine in 2017 where he stayed for four years until going freelance. He now returns to Cycling Weekly from time-to-time to cover racing, review cycling gear and write longer features for print and online.