Lorena Wiebes delivered a message on social media on Tuesday to the driver of a vehicle that collided with her while she was out riding during her end-of-season racing break.
The post started with, "For the person who hit me and didn't stop", and included a picture of a flat bar bike with a buckled rear wheel and the tyre off. "Luckily, I'm quite OK, but this could be way worse, especially because I got hit from the back," continued Wiebes in the Instagram story.
The SD Worx-Protime rider added her thanks to the two people who stopped to check on her and pointed to the potential consequences of incidents involving vehicles and bikes.
"Also more frustrated if you see how many cyclists get killed by cars," she said in the post.
According to the Dutch Centraal Bureau voor de Statistiek in 2024, 246 cyclists were killed in traffic from among a total toll of 675 fatalities. Through 2020 to 2024, on average, 42% of those killed on the roads died in a collision with either a car or van.
The incident occurred in the midst of Wiebes' off-season, which, judging by her social media posts last week, also includes plenty of riding but with a different flavour, pictures including rides on a range of bikes from a hybrid option to a gravel and mountain bike.
The rider headed into the break from racing after the Track World Championships at the end of October. There she secured wins in the scratch race and Omnium, but then crashed in the Madison, fortunately without incurring any fractures.
Wiebes not only finished the season with success on the track but also a Gravel World Championship win and an enormous list of victories on the road.
Her 25 road wins in the 2025 season, the most from any rider this year, included Milan San-Remo as well as Gent-Wevelgem, the Classic Brugge-De Panne, Simac Ladies Tour, the Dutch Road Championships and two stages of both the Tour de France Femmes and Giro d'Italia. She also claimed the points classification at both Grand Tours.
Wiebes, who puts a firm target on the Classics as well as the sprints, hasn't outlined her plans for starting the 2026 season yet. However, in the last three years the UAE Tour in February has been her first race on the road, and fortunately, she isn't carrying any injuries from the latest incident on the road to cause any delays.
