Cycling: After his fall at the 2011 Tour de France, Johnny Hoogerland received compensation payments from the French TV station.
Three years after his accident with an escort vehicle, Johnny Hoogerland is awarded compensation payments. On the ninth stage of the 2011 Tour de France, Hoogerland, then a Vacansoleil driver, fell badly after a collision with an escort vehicle and ended up in a barbed wire fence. The insurance company of the French television company France 2, whose agents caused the accident, has now closed the case and paid Johnny Hoogerland compensation for an unknown amount.
Before the clash, Johnny Hoogerland was in a five-man breakaway with Juan Antonio Flecha. However, Hoogerland and Flecha were rudely knocked out by France 2's car after the car's driver collided with Flecha, who pushed Hoogerland off the road. The other three drivers in the breakaway group were not affected by the accident and were able to finish the race ahead of the peloton. Luis Leon Sanchez won the stage while Thomas Voeckler slipped into the yellow jersey.
Hoogerland's manager Aart Vierhouten sums up the damage caused: "The dangerous maneuver robbed him of his chance to win a stage and conquer the mountain jersey. This means less earnings and less chance of better contracts.” Juan Antonio Flecha also saw his career as hampered by the fall. When he retired last year, he recalled "the saddest moment" of his career. Flecha now hopes that his case can also be closed by the end of the year.
