Presidential Tour of Turkey, second stage. Arrival in Alcati, April 11th, the sprint is awaitedThe sea on the right, the houses and the sidewalk on the left. The group arrives in a single file, but a pedestrian walks in the middle of the street and doesn't move.Someone calls him. The little man in the yellow jacket at the intersection tries to pull him back, but it's too late. The first to hit it was a rider from Eolo-KometaAmong the others who followed him closely there was also Manuel Penalver of Burgos BH who finished his race there and Nacer Bouhanni, jersey Arkea-Samsic, which directly hits the two men on the road: the medical report speaks of a fractured cervical vertebraHis season, which had finally started well, suffered a disastrous setback. The memory is reminiscent of a narrow escape, but it's terribly bitter.
“We were in single file going more than 55 miles an hour,” says Bouhanni (in the opening Instagram photo he is at the Bizet Clinic in Paris) “because there were some dangerous curbs. Then I have this flash where I see two people in front of me on the roadI hit them both head-on. I remember lowering it only at the last moment to protect myself, and then I remember the feeling of having hit a wallI didn't have time to put my hand on the brake; it happened in a split second. From then on, I didn't sleep for three nights. I had this violent image of shock that kept coming back».
The neck can't hold
We have spoken several times with the riders of what it feels like in that moment when you understand that the fall is inevitableThere are times when you don't realize it, other times, like in this case, when you understand that you can't do anything about it. It's incredible how, however, in the story, it almost seems like you're experiencing it in slow motion.
«I realized – admits the Frenchman – I immediately put my hands on my head because of the pain and because I felt like my neck couldn't hold it upI thought the worst. I also remember that there were Emmanuel Hubert, and my sports director (Yvon Ledanois, ed.). I asked him why it was happening again. I'd already had a concussion earlier in the year (the Frenchman had fallen in training in Altea, Spain, and had therefore postponed his debut, ed.). I also said I didn't want to know more about cyclingWith everything that was happening to me, I couldn't take it anymore. Most of all, I was scared. I thought I'd never see them again. I held my head and felt that something was serious.».
Nightmare hospital
Fear. Pain. Being far from home, too, in a land whose language you don't even understand. And that feeling of dismay, because the neck cannot support the head.
«I was suffering a lot – Bouhanni continues this time with the journalist from L'Equipe – I just wanted to be sent home quickly to see my wife and son.I didn't know what it was. I was scared, it was horrifying. And when help arrived, it was even worse. They took me abruptly to put me on a stretcherI kept screaming in excruciating pain. They threw me into the ambulance. Everything they did seemed abrupt to me. The journey afterwards was terrible. Potholes. Curves. I was going crazy.They asked me to move my head from right to left, but I couldn't. Didn't they realize it could be very serious? In the hospital, I spent seven hours in shorts in a corridor with water pouring from the ceiling. I had to pee in a plastic bottleI thought to myself that I was sleeping and would probably wake up. Luckily the team doctor was there too and I begged him not to leave me there alone.He spent the night in his room. Then the Turkish doctors took an X-ray. They told me it was very serious and that I was at risk of paralysis.... ".
Victory finally came at the Roue Tourangelle in Tours (photo Bruno Bade) At the Milan-Turin, he finished second behind Cavendish. He had also placed in Almeria, beaten by Kristoff. In 2022, Bouhanni took part in the Tirreno-Adriatico, completing only four stages. Here in Marmore
Victory finally came at the Roue Tourangelle in Tours (photo Bruno Bade) At the Milan-Turin, he finished second behind Cavendish. He had also placed in Almeria, beaten by Kristoff. In 2022, Bouhanni took part in the Tirreno-Adriatico, completing only four stages. Here in Marmore
Three months out of action
Going home. Having someone you trust around you to take charge. The team manager contacts a neurosurgeon in France, who fortunately reassures him.After receiving the CT scan results, the Parisian doctor is more reassuring than her colleagues at the Smyrna hospital.
«The risk of paralysis – he smiles now at the danger avoided – has transformed into need to hold the torso for two months without being able to move the head. Further tests will then be necessary to decide what to do. What is certain is that I will have to take three months off sports. There is no need to say anything else to describe the rest of my season.I worked hard to get back after my concussion at the beginning of the year, and here we are again. Now, though, I'm focused on my health, no rush. For what? I would offer my 70 victories in exchange, because cycling is one thing, life is another.Mentally, it's very difficult to accept what's happening to me. I can already hear people around me saying, "You're a fighter, you'll get through this and come back." After a while, though, you tell yourself you're not Superman. What drives me crazy is that this happened in a UCI race. So I think those gentlemen who lecture us from behind their desks should finally take a serious look at the safety of the riders."
