Jay Vine 'lucky' after 'really scary' stage two Giro crash

There is no timescale for Jay Vine's return to action. (Getty Images: NurPhoto/Hristo Rusev) Jay Vine's wife Bre said watching footage of her husband's stage two Giro d'Italia crash brought back some "hard memories" from his previous accidents. Paul Magnier won his second stage at this year's Giro in a thrilling sprint into Sofia. Monday is a travel day, with Tuesday's short, 138km fourth stage starting on Italian soil as the peloton races from Catanzaro to Cosenza. Link copiedShareShare articleBre Vine, wife of stricken Australian cyclist Jay, admits that her husband got "relatively lucky" after his Giro-ending crash on stage two on Saturday. Vine fractured his elbow and suffered a concussion after smashing at high speed into a roadside barrier on stage two of this year's Italian grand tour. It was his third serious crash of the season and 23rd in the last five years. "Yesterday was honestly really scary," Bre wrote on Instagram. "Considering how bad that crash was, he's been relatively lucky to come away without anything more serious. "Unfortunately in this sport you can do everything right, be in the right position, and still end up on the ground." Jay Vine was stretchered to hospital. (Supplied: SBS) Vine was taken out when UAE Team Emirates-XRG teammate Mark Soler's front wheel lost traction on a slippery descent with 22 kilometres remaining on the second stage. Several riders came down, with Soler, Vine and team leader Adam Yates all hitting into the barrier at high speed, with Soler suffering a fractured pelvis and Yates, despite limping to the finish, did not start stage three due to a concussion. The mechanism of the crash was eerily similar to the crash that saw Vine suffer a fractured skull and vertebrae at the 2022 Itzulia Basque Country. Bre was at home, 33 weeks pregnant with the couple's second child — as was the case in 2022 when she was pregnant with the couple's first child, Harrison. Adam Yates did not start stage three. (AP Photo: LaPresse/Gian Mattia d'Alberto) That meant she was reminded of the horror of seeing her loved one's crash on repeat with no immediate news as to his wellbeing, with the aftermath of the Basque Country crash no doubt playing on her mind. "Watching the footage replay everywhere definitely brought back some hard memories from Basque Country," Bre wrote. "I know people repost these moments because they care and want updates, but sometimes I think it's easy to forget these are real people with families at home desperately trying to find out if they're OK. "When your person is on the other side of the world and you haven't heard anything yet, those moments feel very long. "My heart genuinely goes out to every rider involved because it was really frightening to watch." ABC Sport Daily is your daily sports conversation. We dive into the biggest story of the day and get you up to speed with everything else that's making headlines. Bre will travel to be with Jay now, but noted that there was no update on when Vine would return, perhaps as part of Tadej Pogačar's Tour de France team in July. "This one hurts, especially after all the work Jay has done to get himself healthy again and back to riding so well," Bre wrote. "But sometimes sport is cruel like that. Right now the focus is simply on getting him fully recovered again, healthy, happy, and back doing what he loves. "We honestly don't know what the next racing schedule looks like yet, and right now that's not the priority. First we want to fully understand the extent of his injuries and go from there. "We take concussions very seriously, especially having dealt with them before, so we know how important it is to give him the proper time and space to recover fully." Paul Magnier (centre) just pipped the rest of the sprinters in a thrilling finale. (Getty Images: Tim de Waele) After two crash-marred stages on Bulgarian roads, the Giro d'Italia's sojourn east ended in spectacular fashion on the streets of Sofia. Crowds 10-deep lined the finishing straight to see the three-man breakaway only caught in the final 500 metres by a rampaging peloton. Diego Pablo Sevilla (Polti VisitMalta), Alessandro Tonelli (Polti VisitMalta) and Manuele Tarozzi (Bardiani CSF 7 Saber) attacked from the start of the 175km race and must have felt they were in with a shout of upsetting the sprint trains. However, Paul Magnier (Soudal Quick-Step) made it two wins at this year's race in three days, overhauling a powerful surge from Jonathan Milan (Lidl-Trek) on the line to claim line honours. "I celebrated on the finish line but, to be honest, I wasn't sure if I had actually won or not," Magnier said. "I'm really happy. Beating Jonathan Milan and Dylan Groenewegen makes me feel like one of the best sprinters in the world. Now we head to Italy and we'll see how many more stages I can target." Tens of thousands came out on the streets of Sofia to roar home the riders. (Getty Images: Dario Belingheri) Jensen Plowrig

Jay Vine 'lucky' after 'really scary' stage two Giro crash

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Jay Vine 'lucky' after 'really scary' stage two Giro crash

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