Cycling is a brutal sport. If you disagree, just take a look at Cofidis’s Geoffrey Soupe who posted a picture of his neck after it was slashed open by barbed wire in a crash at the Tour de Limousin yesterday.
The 30-year-old rouleur came down during Stage 2 of the four-day race in central France, a 176.7km ride from Base Departmentale de Rouffiac to Coteau de Frezes.
In his crash, Soupe landed in some barbed wire, catching his left shoulder and neck and leaving him with rather severe cuts. Unable to continue, the Frenchman was forced to abandon the race.
Once Soupe had been treated for his injuries, he took to Twitter and Instagram to showcase just how bad the cuts were.
Thankfully, Soupe’s injuries aren’t serious, with the wire not having severed any major arteries or muscle tissue. And with the incident unlikely to cause much in the way of long-term damage, Soupe was able to see the funny side of it all, tweeting that his injuries were a result of him wanting to be part of the X-Men. To which Direct Energie’s Lilian Calmejane responded that Soupe looked like he had been attacked by Wolverine.
The Frenchman’s close call with a barbed wire fence will bring to mind a far more serious barbed wire-related incident at the Tour de France back in 2011.
On Stage 9 of that year’s race, Dutch rider Jonny Hoogerland was involved in a dramatic crash when a car belonging to French TV network France 2 knocked him and Juan Antonio Flecha off of their bikes, causing Hoogerland to land in a barbed wire fence.
Despite deep lacerations to his legs, which later required 33 stitches, Hoogerland managed to finish the stage – albeit 17 minutes down on the lead group – and was able to take to the podium to collect the polka dot King of the Mountains jersey he had won that day.
In 2014, Hoogerland received compensation for loss of earnings, medical expenses and legal costs from insurance company AIG, who represented France 2, although the amount was never disclosed.
Lead Image: Geoffrey Soupe Instagram