‘I even thought I might never make it home’ - Touzé’s 2026 season over after brutal Oman crash

Damien Touzé (Cofidis) faces a long recovery after a high-speed crash on stage 4 of the Tour of Oman left the French rider with life-threatening injuries and ended his 2026 season. The 29-year-old struck a roadside barrier and was hospitalised in Muscat in serious condition before being repatriated to Europe for further treatment. 

His wife flew to Oman to be at his bedside. “I even thought I might never make it home,” Touzé told Ouest-France, adding he has lost 10kg during his hospital stay and early recovery.

Cofidis confirmed a ruptured spleen and extensive damage to his leg, including a fractured tibia and ruptures of the medial and lateral collateral ligaments and the anterior cruciate ligament. Touzé described the aftermath starkly: “My foot was next to my thigh… I thought to myself that this wasn’t normal. And then I felt a really intense pain in my stomach.”

Complications followed the first operation in Oman. “At first, they didn’t see that I had a hole in my intestine, which worsened my condition,” the Frenchman said. “I had the beginnings of peritonitis, a high fever, and I went more than ten days without eating.” He added. “There [in Oman] they hadn’t closed the abdominal wall; it was as if I were ripped open. I am open from the sternum to the lower abdomen. I went more than ten days without eating.” Further surgery in Belgium addressed the abdominal issues and set the stage for a prolonged rehabilitation.

Speaking to Belgian outlet RTBF, Touzé placed his ordeal in a wider context of rising risk. “In recent years, the number of crashes in these races, which are normally the safest, has increased. The tension is really intense, and since the start of the year, we’ve seen at least one big crash in every race.”

He also pointed beyond the points chase to equipment and speed. “The bikes, I feel like they don’t suit us anymore. They’re like a piece of wood. You can easily ride 60 km/h on the flat, boxed in behind someone’s wheel. So the slightest impact you get becomes a hundred times bigger for us.”