Stig Broeckx

Stig Broeckx

Broeckx in 2015
Personal information
Born	(1990-05-10) 10 May 1990 (age 34) Mol, Belgium
Height	188 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	73 kg (161 lb)
Team information
Current team	Retired
Discipline	Road
Role	Rider
Amateur teams
2012–2013	Lotto–Belisol U23
2013	Lotto–Belisol (stagiaire)
Professional team
2014–2016	Lotto–Belisol

Stig Broeckx (born 10 May 1990 in Mol) is a Belgian former racing cyclist, who competed as a professional for Lotto–Soudal from 2014 to 2016.^[1]

Career

During the third stage of the 2016 Tour of Belgium, on 28 May, Broeckx was in a crash caused by two motorbikes that ran into the peloton when it was descending at speed. He was one of the 11 riders hospitalized.^[2] He was reported to suffer severe injuries (his heart stopped beating for a time) and was placed in an induced coma at the hospital in Gent.^[3] In June 2016, Lotto Soudal team issued a medical update explaining that Stig Broeckx was in a vegetative state with severe brain damage, with attempts to bring him out of his coma so far unsuccessful.^[4] A further update in September 2016 stated that Broeckx was being cared for in a rehabilitation centre in Overpelt, and was considered to be in a minimally conscious state, with no hope of recovery.^[5] His family insisted that Broeckx be sent to a pioneering coma centre in Liège;^[6] in December 2016 team doctor Servaes Bingé confirmed Broeckx was out of a coma.^[7]

By 2019 Broeckx had recovered to a great extent, and was able to walk with a cane, although he had no memory of the five years leading up to the accident, and found out who he had been from the Internet. He cycles for recreation; when asked if afraid, he replied "I was already dead, so why [be afraid] now?".^[6]

Major results

2007

1st Stage 2 Liège–La Gleize

2012

9th Overall Okolo Slovenska

9th Flèche Ardennaise

2013

2nd Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Beloften

3rd Overall Triptyque Ardennais

7th Overall Triptyque des Monts et Châteaux

8th Overall World Ports Classic

1st Young rider classification

2014

10th Dwars door Drenthe

2015

5th Binche–Chimay–Binche

2016

7th Overall Tour of Turkey

References

1. "Stig Broeckx » Lotto Belisol". Retrieved 19 May 2014.
2. "Belgium Tour stage 3 abandoned after motorbikes cause big crash". Cycling News. 28 May 2016. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
3. "Update Stig Broeckx". Retrieved 26 June 2016.
4. Peloton reacts to news of Stig Broeckx brain damage
5. Broeckx transferred to rehabilitation
6. Jennifer Rankin (19 January 2020). "Belgian neurologist wins €1m prize for work on serious brain trauma". The Guardian.
7. "Stig Broeckx officially out of coma, team doctor says | Cyclingnews.com". Cyclingnews.com. Retrieved 28 February 2017.

External links

• Stig Broeckx at UCI
• Stig Broeckx at Cycling Archives (archived)
• Stig Broeckx at ProCyclingStats
• Stig Broeckx at Cycling Quotient