Former Ironman world champion crashes into a car in first gravel race
Germany's Sebastian Kienle reports that he's "only" broken some bones in his hand
Photo by:
Kevin Mackinnon
It’s not exactly the way he envisioned his first gravel bike race to go, but the good news is that 2014 Ironman world champion Sebastian Kienle (pictured above at his last race in Kona in 2022) is OK after hitting a car in the 123 km race at the 3Rides gravel event in Aachen, Germany.
“I hit a car at about 45 kilometres per hour that was crossing the race track,” Kienle wrote on Instagram.
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The scary photos in the post show Kienle prone on the ground as he is being cared for by a first responder, and another shows his mangled front wheel.
Thankfully Kienle reports that he “only” broke a few bones in his hand.
Even after he retired at the end of last year Kienle remains one of the most popular figures in the sport, renowned for his candour and humour during interviews, press conferences and award ceremonies. The 2014 Kona champion won the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in 2012 and 2013. He won the Ironman European title three times – in 2014, 2016 and 2017, and took the Challenge Roth title in 2018.