French WorldTour rider Thibault Guernalec says he’s still trying to piece together what happened during a training ride in Brittany that left him with a fractured vertebra, a broken finger and a concussion. The 28-year-old told Le Télégramme that he has no recollection of the moments leading up to—or immediately following—the collision with a car Thursday.
“What scares me the most is the blank,” he told the French paper, explaining that he has no memory of heading out for the ride, messaging family before leaving, or of the impact itself. He said his computer later showed he was descending at roughly 50 km/h when everything went dark. For nearly four hours afterward, he added, “there is nothing—just a void.”
Could have been much, much worse
Guernalec, now in his seventh season with Arkéa–B&B Hotels, was taken to hospital in Rennes following the collision , where surgeons stabilized a fracture in his lower back. He’s been left shaken by how narrowly he avoided a far worse outcome. As he put it, he came “within an inch” of spending the rest of his life in a wheelchair. He added that the state of his helmet told the story of how violent the impact had been.
The incident forced him to confront what he called “the risks of the job,” noting that professional cyclists live with these dangers every day. Speaking from his hospital bed, he didn’t sugarcoat how he’s feeling: “Right now, I’m in a pretty bad way.”
The brutal collision comes just days after European champion Lorena Wiebes was also hit by a motorist. Thankfully, it wasn’t as severe–but still a frightening incident for the sprinter.
On Nov. 19 she was hit from behind by a driver while riding her ebike. The motorist also took off.
“To the person who hit me and didn’t stop: I’m luckily feeling okay, but this could have been way worse,” Wiebes wrote, highlighting how easily the situation could have ended far worse. While the driver fled, two passersby stopped to help. Wiebes said she was grateful for their help.
The 26-year-old SD Worx-Protime added, “That’s what’s so frustrating: nowadays, more and more cyclists are dying because they’re being hit by drivers.”
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