Car crashes into group

“Blood everywhere”: how track cyclists experienced the accident

The German national track cycling team was involved in a serious accident on Mallorca.(Bild: AFP/APA/SEBASTIEN BOZON)

An 89-year-old man crashed his car into the German national track cycling team on Mallorca. Six of the seven athletes had to be treated in hospital after the accident, but the all-clear has now been given.

Among the injured were former U23 European champion Tobias Buck-Gramcko, Louis Gentzik, Benjamin Boos, Bruno Kessler, Max-David Briese and Moritz Augenstein.

"For my part, I can give the all-clear for the current situation," Gentzik wrote on Instagram. The 18-year-old's injuries are serious: a hairline fracture in his shoulder, a concussion and slight hematomas in his lungs. "I'll spend two more days in hospital for observation and then hopefully I'll be able to fly home soon and start training again," said Gentzik.

"There's not that much memory left"
The accident occurred during a training ride on Mallorca when an 89-year-old driver overlooked the group and crashed into them. "We hadn't been riding long when I saw that someone had fallen in front of me. After that, all I remember is that I was lying on the side of the road and bleeding everywhere," Max-David Briese told the Ostsee-Zeitung newspaper: "I don't remember that much." The 21-year-old suffered a severe concussion and numerous abrasions. Two bleeding injuries to his face required stitches.

Gentzik appealed: "Take away from the whole thing that next time you are out and about in traffic, you should take even more care of yourselves and treat each other with consideration!"

This incident once again showed just how dangerous cycling is outside of races.