Yikes!
Dutch sprinter Lorena Wiebes had a frightening experience this week when she was hit from behind while riding her ebike. She posted about the scary incident on Instagram. Fortunately, Wiebes escaped serious injury. However, she understandably expressed frustration that the driver responsible didn’t stop.
Every cyclist’s fear
“To the person who hit me and didn’t stop: I’m luckily feeling okay, but this could have been way worse,” Wiebes wrote, highlighting how easily the situation could have ended much, much worse. While the driver continued on, two passersby stopped to help, prompting Wiebes to thank them publicly.
The 26-year-old SD Worx-Protime rider also pointed to a wider issue, noting the increasing risk for cyclists: “That’s what’s so frustrating: nowadays, more and more cyclists are dying because they’re being hit by drivers.”
Wiebes has been enjoying a well-earned break following a long road season and an extremely successful track world championships in Santiago, Chile. Last month, she claimed two world titles on the track. She also won the world gravel champs.
Despite the triumphs, the championship ended on a low note when Wiebes and her partner Lisa van Belle crashed hard in the madison, resulting not only in physical pain but also unwelcome and very disturbing messages.
The SD Worx–Protime sprinter took gold in both the team sprint and elimination race. But then she crashed badly in the madison alongside van Belle.
The messed-up part? In a post to Instagram, Wiebes said she was “okay under the circumstances.” But then she shared a screenshot of a really screwed-up Facebook comment. The message, from a user named “Baerke,” wished her “as many broken bones as possible” and called her “the most unsportsmanlike woman there is.”
The superstar pro responded: “People are so nice these days.”
Wiebes said the Madison result wasn’t what they had hoped for, but joked, “At least we where holding hands till the last moment.”