Cycling star rushed to hospital with collapsed lung & broken ribs in horror Vuelta a Espana crash only AFTER finishing

CYCLIST Luca van Boven was sent to hospital after breaking two ribs and suffering a collapsed lung – but only once he finished the race. Belgian Van Boven, 26, ended Stage Seven of La Vuelta a Espana despite needing urgent medical attention. Cyclist Luca van Boven was forced into hospital but still finished Stage Seven of La Vuelta a Espana Credit: X @LottoIntermarch He suffered two broken ribs and a collapsed lung after a horror crash Credit: X @LottoIntermarch He has now been forced to back out of the start of Stage Eight after being kept in hospital. The Lotto-Intermarche rider went down after colliding with a curb on the streets of Spain, still 28km from the end. Sign up for the Sport newsletter Thank you! He had been pushed towards the side of the road after Alessandro Romele lost balance and hit a speed bump, cramping the way forward. That caused Van Boven to move over and then disaster struck. He tumbled, falling off his bike and slamming into the tarmac. In a bright pink top, Van Boven clutched his chest and sat on his knees as rivals went past him. He smashed into the wall on his way down and slid off the pathway and onto his side. At 122km in, Van Boven bravely powered on, even in last place. Most read in Sport BEST ONLINE CASINOS – TOP SITES IN THE UK The Lotto Intermarche rider was left with cuts across his body Credit: Shutterstock Editorial He was 33 minutes behind stage winner Andreas Lekenessund of Uno-X Mobility. Van Boven ended 178th, taking four hours and 23 minutes to complete the stage, but was less than two minutes off the next closest rider. Italian Romele, from XDS-Astana, received a yellow card for his part in the incident. Support rider Van Boven continued the stage with over 3,500m of climbing. He was greeted by physios and medics after crossing the line. Van Boven could be seen with a huge graze on his arm and cuts all over his legs. Blood had poured down his body with a massive rip in his shorts. He appeared to be struggling with his breathing. And a post online from the team confirmed: “Luca Van Boven suffered two broken ribs and a collapsed lung because of the nasty crash during stage 7 of La Vuelta, which he courageously managed to finish. “Luca will remain in hospital overnight for further observation and will unfortunately not start tomorrow. “He will continue to be closely monitored. “We are sad to lose a precious teammate and such positive personality around the team. “We wish Luca lots of strength and a speedy recovery”. Van Boven replied: “I’ll be back”. Comment now