King apologizes for causing San Sebastián crash
American Ben King apologizes for causing San Sebastian crash that knocked out Mikel Landa and Egan Bernal.
Get access to everything we publish when you join VeloNews or Outside+.
A touch of wheels in the hectic lead-in to the final climb at Clásica San Sebastián Saturday knocked two key climbers out of the race — Egan Bernal (Team Sky) and Mikel Landa (Movistar).
A day later, American Ben King (Dimension Data) took to Twitter to apologize for the crash.
I am sincerely sorry to the riders who crashed as a result of my accident today. I looked back for my teammates when the rider beside me came across my front wheel. It's terrible when something like this affects yourself but worse when it affects others. I hope everybody is ok.
— Ben King (@BenKing89) August 4, 2018
King went on to finish 63rd in the 228.7km one-day race.
Bernal just finished his debut Tour de France. He was a key climbing domestique who helped his Sky teammate Geraint Thomas win his first yellow jersey. The 21-year-old Colombian suffered “serious facial trauma,” according to Team Sky’s website.
“Egan [Bernal] suffered a serious facial trauma. He is awake and talking. He has had a precautionary scan to assess for further injuries which revealed a nasal fracture and maxillary injury,” the statement read.
Landa was also stretchered off the course near San Sebastián with 20 kilometers to go.
His Movistar team said he suffered a “non-displaced fracture of the spinous process in his lumbar vertebra L1.”
The Spaniard was expected to race the Vuelta a España after a disappointing showing at the Tour de France. Although he’ll require two to three weeks of rest, he may still start the three-week Spanish tour.
