La Vuelta 2021 cycling - 'It looks awful!' - Alejandro Valverde's scary crash 'never nice to see' - Blythe
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Updated 20/08/2021 at 16:52 GMT
Blythe told Eurosport's The Breakaway post-stage show that it was an "awful" incident. "Just as he comes round the corner, Valverde hits a hole, loses his hand [off the bike] and just wasn't able to break," he said. "It looks awful! But if that railing was there [hitting Valverde] it could have been a lot worse. It's part of bike racing, these things happen, but it's never nice to see."
'It looks awful!' - Valverde's scary crash 'never nice to see' - Blythe
Alejandro Valverde's nightmare crash through a barrier on a mountain descent on Stage 7 of La Vuelta was described as "awful" by Eurosport's Adam Blythe, who said "it's never nice to see".
Turning a corner on a pretty steep descent, Valverde suddenly slid off the road and under a safety barrier, out of sight, with viewers on Eurosport left to pray that he was okay.
Fortunately, the 41-year-old Spaniard not only avoided a very heavy collision with the metal barrier but also did not tumble too far down as he found himself on a dusty bank beneath the road.
With team-mates and safety officials able to help pull him back up and to the side of the road, Valverde managed to walk away, and Blythe told Eurosport's The Breakaway post-stage show that it was an "awful" incident.
"Just as he comes round the corner, Valverde hits a hole, loses his hand [off the bike] and just wasn't able to break," Blythe said.
It looks awful! But if that railing was there [hitting Valverde] it could have been a lot worse.
"It's part of bike racing, these things happen, but it's never nice to see. He tried to carry on for a bit on his bike, but he had to stop and he was hugging the sports director.
"There was nothing he could do when he hit the hole. It's just awful to see. The emotion will start to kick in and he will be absolutely gutted.
"It is going to happen in your career as a bike racer, but you never like to see it happen. It's just awful and one of those things, really."
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Cherie Pridham, the sports director for Israel Start-Up Nation, added: "It's never nice to see a rider go over on a descent like that, and I'm just thankful he didn't hit the railing because it could have been a lot worse.
"Seeing his team-mate helping him up, and his sports director was there for him. I could feel the emotion and it was just so sad to see."
While his race came to a sad and abrupt end, everyone will just be so glad that Valverde is okay.
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