Girmay’s Giro in doubt after cork hits him in the eye
Girmay's Giro in doubt after cork hits him in the eye
Only a few minutes after his dramatic stage 10 victory at the Giro d’Italia, Biniam Girmay was taken to the hospital following an incident with cork of the stage winner’s celebratory bottle of Spumante, Italian sparkling wine.
As Girmay was undoing the cage that envelops the cork atop the wine, the cork popped straight towards his face, appearing to hit him in the eye.
Although he continued on with the celebration, Girmay did not attend the stage winner’s press conference, reportedly unable to see out of the affected eye.
He has been taken to the hospital for further evaluation.
Update 9:02 pm local time
Girmay was seen leaving the hospital late in the evening with a large bandage over his left eye, and team doctor Piet Daneels indicated that a final decision regarding Girmay’s continuation at the Giro would be made on Wednesday prior to stage 11.
“After the ceremony, Girmay could no longer see,” Daneels told Sporza. “We immediately came to the hospital of Jesi, here he was treated well. He had bleeding in the anterior chamber of the eye. Such bleeding is not threatening to the eye itself, but it is important that this is monitored.”
“At the moment it is better. He looks back. But to decide whether he starts tomorrow, that will have to take another night,” he added.
“As it stands now, I don’t think there is permanent damage, but we have to wait and see. There will be a new evaluation tomorrow, but we will be careful with this incident.”