- A shocking crash at the Olympic velodrome left three female cyclists injured
- The women’s keirin event turned to chaos when Steffie van der Peet came off
- China’s Yuan Liying and Belgium’s Nicky Degrendele crashed into the ground
A horrifying high-speed crash at the Olympic velodrome saw three riders suffer nasty injuries in the women’s keirin event on Thursday.
Medics rushed to the scene as riders slid down the surface of the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome with bikes smashed to pieces and spectators left stunned following the 40mph collision.
Three out of the six competing cyclists were thrown off their bikes when Netherlands star Steffie van der Peet came off as her bike slid out from underneath and clattered into those around her.
Van der Peet was on the outside of the pack and in the blink of an eye found herself uncontrollably careering into other unsuspecting riders.
While being catapulted off her bike, the Dutch cyclist smashed into the back wheel of China’s Yuan Liying who fell sideways into the ground as pieces of her demolished bike flew into the air.
Netherlands rider Steffie van der Peet (right) crashed into China’s Yuan Liying (middle) and Belgium’s Nicky Degrendele (far left)
A horrifying high-speed crash at the Olympic velodrome saw three riders suffer nasty injuries in the women’s keirin event
Pieces of machinery flew through the air as cyclists were left with holes in their attire
The women’s keirin heat was going smoothly until Van der Peet’s (orange) bike slid out from underneath her
A domino effect then saw her clip Belgium’s Nicky Degrendele, with the pair getting tangled as momentum carried them forward while others attempted to avoid becoming entangled.
Degrendele did well to try and stay on her machine and looked to have avoided the worst of the incident but was eventually brought down and went over the handlebars with her head appearing to strike the ground.
The Belgian looked in serious discomfort as medical personnel rushed to her aid, while China’s Liying was left visibly upset as she was helped back to her feet by support staff.
Meanwhile, team technicians began picking up the severely damaged bikes as some were left with huge chunks missing from their wheels with handlebars bent and detached.
Velodrome staff also got to work on trying to repair the track with a hoover sucking up small pieces of debris and pieces of tape being used to cover up dents left in the surface.
Fortunately all three riders were left relatively uninjured following the lengthy delay. Degrendele smiled and waved to the crowd as she was led away and back to the athletes seating area.
The race had already ended at the time of the crash with Degrendele the only rider out of the three to make the women’s keirin final where she finished in 11th place.
