World Madison champion Amy Pieters in induced coma after training camp crash

World Madison champion Amy Pieters has been placed in an induced coma after crashing during a training ride.

The 30-year-old’s SD Worx team said that she lost consciousness yesterday afternoon following a crash during a training ride in Calpe on the Costa Blanca.

She was taken by helicopter to hospital in Alicante, and has since undergone surgery for a head injury to relieve pressure created by the fall.

Her team said that a full assessment of potential damage will be possible once doctors wake her up in the coming days.

Pieters was in Spain for a training camp with the Dutch national track cycling team and her family, as well as staff from the Dutch national cycling federation KNWU, have travelled to Alicante to be with her.

The KNWU added that national coach Fulco van Gulik will stay in Spain with a small delegation to support Pieters as much as is possible, with the rest of the track team flying back to the Netherlands as planned. 

Pieters has won the rainbow jersey in the Madison at the past three UCI Track Cycling World Championships, partnered on each occasion by fellow Dutch rider Kirsten Wild.

She was also European road champion in 2019, and the same year was part of the Dutch team that won the mixed relay at the UCI Road Cycling World Championships in Yorkshire.