'I lay 45 minutes in a stationary ambulance' - Baroncini recounts Poland crash that nearly blinded him

Baroncini, 25, slammed into a wall in early August during stage 3 after losing control in a fast descent. “I still remember every detail of the crash,” he said to Sporza. “In a dangerous downhill section, there was a lot of gravel in a corner. I lost control of my bike, and unfortunately, I went down where I went down.” 

The images from the immediate aftermath are something he still cannot face. “I still do not dare to look at the photos from right after my crash,” he says. “Seeing my badly damaged face, I cannot handle that confrontation.”

Then comes the detail that has stayed with him most sharply. “I lay 45 minutes in a stationary ambulance,” Baroncini says. “Unbelievable, if you know the state I was in.” He credits others at the scene for pushing the process forward. 

“It was the Ineos team doctor who asked the paramedics to hurry and get me to the hospital,” he says, adding that he remains grateful to him and to Michal Kwiatkowski, who was also involved in the crash.

The injuries were severe. “I had a broken jaw, a crushed nose, and I narrowly avoided going blind,” Baroncini says, describing the fine margins that separated him from a different life. He believes his eyewear saved his vision. “Because I was wearing sunglasses, my nose broke,” he explains. “But those same glasses saved my eyes. It was just a few millimetres, and I would have been blind.”

In the hospital, he was operated on immediately for a fractured collarbone, but the fractures in his face became the biggest concern. Doctors decided to place him in a medically induced coma, and his family rushed to Poland. 

“My father and brother travelled to Poland to see me sleeping in a hospital bed for days,” he says. “Afterwards, I heard how hard it was for them in that period. If I could have told my father before the coma that I was okay, I would have. But I was not in a position to do that.”

He was flown from Poland to Italy while still in a coma, then underwent an eleven-hour operation on his jaw and face. “When I woke up after two weeks, I realised it was still a miracle that I was alive and that I could still see,” he says.

The timing made the crash feel even crueller. Just weeks earlier, Baroncini had been on the other end of the sport’s spectrum, winning the overall title at the Baloise Belgium Tour in June, a result that confirmed his upward curve and made the sudden violence of August feel even more surreal.

Baroncini’s return has been gradual, starting with pool rehabilitation and then a first ride in October during team days in Abu Dhabi. “Now, two months later, I am happy I can train here on camp with my teammates,” he says. “Of course, I suffer more than the others because my condition is still far from good. But I know I have to be patient.”

Mentally, the confrontation is harder. “I still do not have the courage to look at the photos from right after my crash,” he says. “Seeing my badly damaged face, I cannot handle that confrontation.” 

To deal with the trauma, he has started working with a psychologist. “I have recently started talking to a psychologist so I can forget this whole experience,” he says. “Because if I keep that crash in my head, I will not perform.”

As for racing again, he has a target in mind. “In my head, it is the end of March,” he says. “But by then, I still have to seriously build up my condition.” And the dreams have not disappeared. “My big dream is Milan Sanremo,” Baroncini concluded.