Horrifying testimony. Hit by a car on Thursday during training near Lamballe (Côtes-d’Armor), French cyclist Thibault Guernalec suffered a major accident. The Arkéa-B&B Hôtels team rider, whose life is not in danger despite multiple injuries, gave his first reaction to Le Télégramme this Friday evening.
Having undergone surgery following a fractured lumbar spine, 28-year-old Breton also revealed he had a “broken finger, bruised eye” and a “concussion”. Most importantly, a head-on collision with a vehicle caused him amnesia. “What scares me is that I don’t remember anything,” he told the regional daily.
“For almost four hours, it was a black hole”
“I don’t remember going for a walk, I don’t remember texting my loved ones before leaving. I don’t remember the accident either. For almost four hours, it was a black hole. I have no memory. Nothing,” he said.
Guernalec, who was forced to withdraw from his maiden Tour de France with a broken hand last June, still appeared stunned by the massive shock he had just experienced. “I’m still almost in the (wheelchair) chair,” said the French wheelchair rider, aware that he is approaching the worst and most uncertain period of his remaining career.
“It makes you think about our sport, about the dangers, about the risks of this profession. There, I was still in bad shape,” he said at the end of the interview, without knowing the extent of the impact the accident might have. For now, the French runner is still being treated in hospital at Pontchaillou Hospital in Rennes. He told Le Télégramme that he tried walking in the corridors of the CHU, before feeling “a little unwell.” »
