BATU PAHAT: Unibet Rose Rockets’ Ronan Auge remains in a medically induced coma following a serious crash during Stage 6 of the 30th Le Tour de Langkawi (LTdL) on Friday.
The 22-year-old French rider was involved in a severe accident shortly after the start of the stage from Pandan Indah to Rembau.
He was immediately transported to a hospital in Kuala Lumpur, where he is currently receiving treatment.
"There was a big accident yesterday at the start of the race. It was serious enough that he needed to be taken to the hospital immediately," said team sport director Joram Grootveld after yesterday’s penultimate stage from Melaka to Batu Pahat.
"Our team doctor is with him and they have put him under medical sedation to ensure his condition remains stable."
Grootveld also confirmed the French sprint specialist suffered multiple broken bones but is hopeful that a full recovery is still possible.
"He did suffer several broken bones. At the moment, everything looks pretty good, but we need to take it step by step."
The accident cuts short a brilliant LTdL debut for Auge, who narrowly missed the podium with a fourth-place finish in Stage 3. He was also sitting third in the sprint classification with 14 points.
French outfit Unibet Rose Rockets remain in contention for the team general classification award. They currently sit in second place with 74’49:54, just over three minutes behind leaders Caja Rural-Seguros RGA who have amassed a total time of 74’46:21 over the seven completed stages so far.
Today’s final Stage 8 from Muar to Putrajaya will decide the ultimate winner of that battle. The peloton will face three sprints in Simpang Ampat, Seremban and Nilai with one climb in Bukit Mantin over the 188.3km race.
