USPro criterium silver medalist Alexis Magner was taken to hospital in Belgium for surgery after crashing near the finish line Sunday on the final day of the Ladies Baloise Tour.
The 30-year-old American was said to be “amazingly OK” on Tuesday, as her husband Ty Magner had joined her in Belgium at hospital and posted an update to her Instagram account.
“Letting everyone know Alexis is amazingly OK after such a brutal get down in Belgium over the weekend. Luckily no head/leg injuries, but did a number on some ribs and scapula,” Ty Magner’s update read on Alexis’ social feed.
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“Here in Belgium a couple more weeks before heading back to the states for some proper rest and recovery. Can’t thank everyone enough that was with Alexis immediately at the crash, here at the hospital, and helping her dad and I make it to Europe so quickly. Alexis appreciates everyone’s messages and plans to respond as soon as she feels up for it.”
Magner, who competes for trade team Cynisca Cycling, was part of the US National Team competing at the one-day Grote Prijs in Beveren followed by the Belgian six-stage UCI stage race. She was fifth at Grote Prijs and then finished fourth on Saturday’s morning road race to Maldegem before an afternoon time trial at the Baloise Belgium Tour.
Magner went down in the final corner before the finish with stage 1 winner Charlotte Kool (Picnic-PostNL) and Fien Van Eynde (Fenix-Deceuninck). The three riders did not continue for the several hundred metres remaining, with Magner reported by Sporza to have “collided with a lamppost and had to be resuscitated on the spot” by Emergency Medical Services (MUG) in Zwevegem.
An ambulance took Magner to hospital for surgery. The extent of her injuries have not been confirmed as she recovers, a photo with Ty Magner revealing a sling on her left arm.
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While Kool and Van Eynde were able to sit up at the scene, Van Eynde said on her Instagram account that she has several fractured vertebrae.
Kool noted that she hoped to recover and be ready to start Tour de France Femmes, which begins July 26.
“A bad crash in the final meters of today’s last stage in Baloise Ladies Tour left me with 3 broken vertebrae and a bike in 4 pieces. Given the size of the impact, it could be much worse. It’s a big blow after feeling better again with all the misery in the past so it will take some time to recover from it,” the 26-year-old Dutch rider said.
The police and UCI representatives have reportedly requested the footage of the crash, according to Sporza, which was an indication that the incident was being investigated.
A three-time winner of the Athens Twilight Criterium, Magner was expected to lead Cynisca Cycling at the inaugural Maryland Cycling Classic in early September.