ZCZC
BSP-24
CYCLING-BEL
Defending champion Terpstra crashes out of Tour of Flanders
OUDENAARDE, Belgium, April 7, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Defending Tour of Flanders champion Niki Terpstra crashed out of the gruelling one-day race on Sunday.
Dutchman Terpstra hit the tarmac with several other riders 160km from the finish of the 266-kilometre slog from Antwerp to Oudenarde over a route that takes in 24 sharp climbs, many cobbled.
Terpstra stayed down for several minutes after the crash, his Direct Energie team confirming he had been taken to hospital.
BSS/AFP/AU/18:15 hrs