Dutch cycling star Lorena Wiebes walked away unscathed after being hit by a car while riding her electric bike, she announced on social media last night.
She posted an image on her Instagram story of her damaged, silver and pink ebike – with flat handlebars, no less – with a message to the driver, who did not stop.
“For the person who hit me and didn’t stop… Luckily I’m quite OK but this could be way worse, especially because I got hit from the back.
(Image credit: Lorena Wiebes/Instagram)
“Thanks to the two persons who stopped to check that I’m OK,” the SD Worx-Protime rider added. At the bottom of the image, she concluded: “More frustrating if you see how many cyclists get killed by cars.”
The bike, which looked to be unbranded and also features flat pedals, was held up by a kickstand in her story image. The damage was minimal, with a slightly taco’d rear wheel with the tubeless skinwall tyre hanging off.
While she did not add any further information, as a rider who rarely saddles up for cyclo-cross events during the winter it would appear Wiebes was simply taking it easy before training for the new season begins in earnest.
It was the second accident in short succession for the gravel world champion, who took part in the recent Track World Championship in Santiago, Chile. She took home two gold medals – in the omnium and the scratch race – but also a number of bruises, sustained after a crash in the Madison.
Crashes aside, it has been a successful season pretty much from start to finish for the 26-year-old, who continues to excel beyond the realm of pure sprinting, with some fine results in punchy one-day races. This was demonstrated by wins in Milan-San Remo, Gent-Wevelgem and the Classic Brugge-De Panne, which she followed up by third place in Paris-Roubaix Frmmes. She now has over 100 career victories.
She has also excelled in the off-road world too, with a win in the Dutch Marly Grav race – part of the UCI Gravel World Series – and more recently taking that UCI Gravel World Championships win, also on home turf in Maastricht.
Elsewhere she also won the points classifications at both the Giro d’Italia Women and the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift.
