The Rio Olympics are barely underway, and already there’s been two horrific crashes. The most recent occurred when Dutch cyclist Annemiek van Vleuten went over the handlebars on the final descent of a course that has been called “overly dangerous.”
The crash occurred when Van Vleuten was leading the race, and is the second in as many days. The day before, Italian Vincenzo Nibali broke his collarbone on the same course. “I am angry about it,” said Chris Boardman, the former British Olympic gold medallist. “I went down and had a look at the course and saw those edges. We knew it was way past being technical; it was dangerous. The people who designed the course and said what safety features were needed had seen it was well and left it.
Van Vleuten is in hospital with “three small fractures to spinal bones and a hefty concussion,” according to a Dutch Olympic Committee official.
