Marten Van Riel suffers an accident in Cozumel 2024
In the HOMBRE DE HIERRO Cozumel 2024the Belgian Marten Van Riel suffered an accident that marked the development of the race.
Van Riel, who was leading the cycling segment of the race, suffered an unfortunate accident that made him lose more than 20 minutes and relegated him to seventh place in the final.
Despite this, the triathlete demonstrated great resilience, finishing the race with the best marathon time of the day.
An unfortunate accident in the cycling segment
Everything pointed to Marten Van Riel could take the victory in Cozumel, since after a great swimming and cycling segment he was going to arrive at T2 with an advantage over his pursuers.
However, with 5 km to go in the 180 km cycling race, he suffered an accident that marked his career.
Van Riel explained on his social media what happened: “After 175 km on the bike, I lost control, either due to a cateye or a hole in the road, and I swerved to the side where a girl was cheering on the race.
Unfortunately, I hit her at 50 km/h and crashed quite hard.” Fortunately, the girl was with her family and, although she suffered a cut on her finger, she did not suffer serious injuries.
The ambulance arrived quickly and provided care to both the girl and Van Riel.
Both were taken to Cozumel's only hospital, where the triathlete was able to meet the girl and give her his finisher's medal and a t-shirt. "Her mother told me that she comes to watch the race every year, and I really hope this doesn't change that," Van Riel added.
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Aernouts takes the lead and takes the victory
After the accident, Bart Aernouts Aernouts took advantage of the opportunity and moved into the lead, taking control of the race and securing a lead that he would maintain until the end. Aernouts crossed the finish line with a time of 7:39:24, achieving the victory in Cozumel.
Despite the challenge posed by the accident, Marten Van Riel He managed to finish the race in seventh position, with a final time of 7:55:38.
Not only that, but he also recorded the fastest split of the marathon, with an impressive time of 2:39:38, proving that, had it not been for the incident, Van Riel would have been a leading contender for victory.
