Campbell Stewart conscious after horror crash in Tour of Hungary, Emils Liepins penalized

Campbell Stewart has been taken to hospital after a horror crash in the Tour of Hungary. In the bunch sprint, the New Zealander of Jayco AlUla crashed hard after his front wheel was tapped away by Emils Liepins. The latter was punished for this by the competition jury in Hungary.

Stewart was the lead-out for leader Dylan Groenewegen in the opening stage of the Tour of Hungary. After doing his work, Stewart kept his legs still. Emils Liepins was on the right of the New Zealander, but wanted to go to the left. During that move, Liepins hit Stewart’s front wheel, causing him to crash at high speed and causing Sebastian Kolze Changizi (Tudor) to run over him hard. Barnabás Peák also fell hard.

Jayco AlUla provided an update on Stewart’s situation soon after the finish. “He is conscious and on his way to hospital for evaluation,” the Australian WorldTeam said.

Tudor has on CyclingFlits announced that Changizi has multiple injuries to his left hip, knee, ankle, elbow and back. Because his hands are also badly damaged, he cannot hold the handlebars and will no longer be able to continue. His Tudor teammate Mika Heming was also involved in the crash and has an injury to his right knee. Whether he can continue will be decided on Thursday morning.

Punishment for Emils Liepins
The competition jury has now identified a guilty party for the massive crash, in which several riders fell. dsm-firmenich PostNL announced that Emils Liepins had been punished for his dangerous maneuver. The Latvian sprinter has been declassified and put back to last place in the results.

It is not yet known how the other riders who fell in the bunch sprint are doing. Sam Welsford stayed out of trouble and took the stage win. Mark Cavendish was sixth and Dylan Groenewegen, after being hampered by Stewart’s crash, finished thirteenth.