Advertisement

Olympics-Cycling-UCI defends road course after weekend of crashes

By Martyn Herman RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Cycling's governing body the UCI said the Olympic course was not to blame for a series of bone-crunching crashes during the weekend's road races around Rio's stunning coastline. Dutchwoman Annemiek van Vleuten fractured three vertebrae and suffered concussion in a horrible crash on the Vista Chinesa descent close to the finish at the Copacabana beach. Van Vleuten, 33, was still recovering in hospital on Monday. On Saturday, Vincenzo Nibali, who like Van Vleuten was leading the race on the final, high-speed descent, broke both collarbones after he and Sergio Henao crashed heavily on the same stretch of road. Henao fractured his pelvis. Despite criticism from former Olympic track champion Chris Boardman, specifically of the Chinesa descent that also claimed Australian Richie Porte in a crash that broke his right shoulder, the UCI said the course had been thoroughly checked. "The Rio 2016 Road Race course was carefully designed and was extensively tested at the test event and in training," it said in a statement. "We do our utmost to design safe, challenging courses but unfortunately crashes do sometimes occur due to a combination of factors." Van Vleuten's crash was watched by millions around the world and there was real concern for her after she skidded and flew over the handlebars of her bike and crashed into a high stone kerb. Boardman, who was commentating for the BBC at the time, said: "I am past commenting -- I am angry about it. "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 as well and left it. "We knew the descent was treacherous. I looked at that road furniture and thought, nobody can crash here and just get up. It is really bad and that is what we have seen." American Mara Abbott, who was chasing Van Vleuten when the accident occurred, said there was something "weird" about the road where the Dutchwoman went off. Van Vleuten, who lost consciousness for a time, said late on Sunday that she would be "fine". She posted another update on Twitter on Monday. "Still in the hospital. Waiting for some research and hope I can leave today. Knowing that this chance is one in four years doesn't make it easy," she said. Road racing concludes on Wednesday with the men's and women's individual time trials which will be raced on the less problematic Grumari section of the road race course. (Editing by Clare Fallon)