Lotto Soudal rider Roger Kluge was forced to abandon the Tour de France after a crash during stage 13. The crash, caused by loose gravel on the road, resulted in Kluge suffering heavy abrasions on his back, right hip, and elbow. Kluge was taken to the hospital where no fractures were diagnosed and his Olympic campaign is not expected to be affected.
“Suddenly everybody started braking and when I reached for my brakes, I already touched wheels,” said Kluge. “I crashed pretty hard and then I realized why everybody was braking… The road was full of little stones and we were just sliding on loose gravel. I had to think of what Caleb said after he went down. Immediately after the crash, I was also in a lot of pain, especially my back hurt a lot. I didn’t think a second of jumping back on the bike.”
Kluge, a former Madison world champion, will represent Germany in both the Madison and omnium discipline at the Olympics in Tokyo. Despite the crash, Kluge remains hopeful that his Olympic dreams will still be possible.
“Luckily there are no broken bones, so normally Tokyo will be the next step for me,” Kluge stated. “But first, everything needs to heal well of course. I’m happy that I didn’t break anything and the Olympics are still possible but we will need to see how it goes. Luckily, there’s still some time.”
