Recent tragedy has marked the Lotto Dstny cycling team after star Florian Vermeersch suffered a fractured femur. The accident happened during the Vuelta a Murcia.
Dirk Demol’s devastating experience
Team director Dirk Demol was driving the support car when the accident happened. Vermeersch, who underwent surgery on Saturday night, is expected to be out of action for approximately six months.
“When I saw Florian lying two meters deeper on the other side of the barriers, I knew it immediately,” he says, followed by some swear words.
“He must have hit the barriers with his left thigh. I didn’t dare look at his leg too much. I sat there for ten minutes. He was deeply involved in this,” says Demol.
“In principle he will be out of action for six months, but on the other hand he is an athlete and they can come back much faster than normal. But we will have lost him for a long time anyway.”
Impact on team strategy
The other team leader, Arnaud De Lie, who coincidentally was in the support van after withdrawing from the race, described the sight of an injured Vermeersch as “not pretty”.
Florian is described as a “great teammate and leader” by De Lie, who states that this accident will certainly affect the team’s plans. Despite optimism that they still have a strong team, De Lie has made no secret of the fact that he would prefer to have Florian alongside him in the spring competitions.
