Jay Vine’s wife feared he might have died in high speed horror crash

The injuries leave Vingegaard and Vine highly doubtful to compete in the Tour de France on June 29

Jay Vine’s wife, Bre Vine has revealed how she feared he might have died when the star Australian cyclist was lying in a concrete ditch after the horror crash on stage 4 in the Itzulia Basque race

Bre, a former cyclist herself, predicts her husband Jay who is recovering in a Spanish hospital after suffering fractured vertebrae, will return back “stronger than ever”.

The team reported after Thursday’s crash that the 28-year-old Australian had been left with “a cervical and two thoracic spine vertebral body fractures” as he came off perhaps worst of all in the mass crash in northern Spain.

Double Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard suffered a collapsed lung, a pulmonary contusion, broken ribs and a broken collarbone, with his title defence in doubt, while double world champion Remco Evenepoel needed surgery on a fractured collarbone and shoulder blade.

Bre, who is pregnant, watched in horror as television images showed Jay being treated while motionless at the side of the road in the ditch, “I will admit when I saw the live coverage of him just lying there not moving for such a long time, I genuinely wasn’t sure if I still had a husband and if the worst had happened,” she posted on Instagram.

I’m so genuinely grateful for how the team quickly got the news to me.” She said she jumped in her car at their Andorra home and arrived at the hospital’s ICU six hours later.

“I will let UAE share his medical updates when we have determined theextent of the injuries. But for now he is ‘okay’, and we are still considering all our options. The team are making sure he and I are getting the best care possible,” she added.

The crash, which featured three of the world's most outstanding riders in Vingegaard, Evenepoel and Roglic, was also a huge blow for 25-year-old Vine, who has graduated from riding a turbo trainer in his living room to being a peloton star.

He had begun the week-long race on Monday with an exceptional time trial that had left him second behind only Roglic at that stage and revealed afterwards that the Itzulia had been only a late addition to his schedule.

It was a disastrous day for another modern-day great too, with Remco Evenepoel, the 2022 world champion, managing to walk away from the crash despite suffering what his Soudal-Quick Step later confirmed was a fracture to his right collarbone and to his right shoulder blade.

In all, 12 riders near the front of the peloton were involved in the crash, which happened with about 35 kilometres left of the fourth stage between Etxarri Aranatz and Legutio, in northern Spain.

The leaders were making a sweeping right-hand turn on a slight but swift descent, with some sliding off, sending others off the road into the ditch.

Denmark's Vingegaard, who has been in spectacular form and was favourite for the 2024 Tour de France, had to be carried to the ambulance in a neck brace and needed oxygen after treatment at roadside by doctors.

The race was then neutralised until the finish, with only the six riders who had been at the front being allowed to sprint for the finish to try to win the stage, with victory eventually going to the underwhelmed South African Louis Meintjes, who admitted it was a hollow triumph.