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MTN-Qhubeka’s Matt Brammeier suffers high-speed crash with support car during Tour of Utah

The final weekend of the 2015 Tour of Utah may have been a great one for Cannondale-Garmin's Joe Dombrowski, who took the title on Sunday, but it was much less so for MTN-Qhubeka's Matt Brammeier.

August 10, 2015
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This still from a video shared to YouTube by user John Marinucci shows Brammeier seconds away from colliding with the support car. (Image: YouTube)
This still from a video shared to YouTube by user John Marinucci shows Brammeier seconds away from colliding with the support car. (Image: YouTube)

The final weekend of the 2015 Tour of Utah may have been a great one for Cannondale-Garmin’s Joe Dombrowski, who took the title on Sunday, but it was much less so for MTN-Qhubeka’s Matt Brammeier, who collided broadside at high speed with a team car on Saturday.

According to team officials, Brammeier suffered injuries to his pelvis, ribs and lung, with doctors describing his injuries as “significant.”

The accident happened on the Big Cottonwood Canyon descent at Guardsman’s Pass, roughly 50 km from the stage’s finish. At the time, Brammeier was on the chase ,riding back to the peloton, when he collided hard with a support car making the same turn ahead of him. At such high speeds, it was a crash with an intensity described by some media outlets as “sickening.”

To see the crash happen, such a description almost seems like an understatement.

In its aftermath, the race was halted, other riders skidded out while trying to stop, and Brammeier was immediately taken to the hospital, where his injuries were diagnosed. Despite the severity and extent of those injuries, though, medical officials with MTN-Qhubeka nonetheless suggested that it could have been much worse for the Irish rider.

“Thankfully, Matt has suffered no head, neck or spinal injuries and is currently stable in hospital,” the team’s doctor, Jarrad van Zuydam, reported via a press release. “His musculoskeletal injuries are significant however. He suffered rib fractures on both sides as well as a small pneumothorax. He also has fractures to the sacral and pelvic bones.”

“Matt is unlikely to require surgery,” van Zuydam explained, “but will need some time to recover from his injuries.”

The horrific crash, not surprisingly, likely spells an early end to Brammeier’s season, one that’s been a whirlwind for the fresh addition to MTN-Qhubeka. Joining the team at the beginning of this season, Brammeier took his first pro win at the ZLM Toer in June.

Judging from social media posts shared after the incident, however, Brammeier seems in relatively good spirits, all things considered.

“All good in the hood guys,” he wrote. “Thanks for the messages.”