US Postal ‘s Dylan Casey suffered a broken pelvis and a broken clavicle in a freakish crash with a French TV sound man after crossing the
finish line in today’s opening stage of the Four Days of Dunkirk stage race in northern France.

Following the conclusion of the 164.8 kilometer stage from Dunkirk to Steenvoorde, just over the French border in Belgium, Casey, part of the second group of riders to finish the stage, rode straight into the sound man at full tilt.

The Californian was then taken to a hospital in Hazebrouck, France. “In the last few kilometers, I began to lose contact with the main peloton because of
the cross winds,” Casey said. “I was finishing as hard as I could as I was trying to limit my losses for the overall. I was on the left side of the road when I crossed the line and as I started to slow down, I saw a cameraman with his back to me standing in the middle of the road. I moved to the left to avoid him and he took two steps to the left and I went right into him. I was either going to hit him or the barriers.”

Casey said x-ray results indicated his left collar bone is fractured near the shoulder and that his pelvic bone is fractured as well.