The verified part is he clipped a pedal while going through a fast left/right chicane and lost control, hit the curb while trying to recover and went over the bars and impacted the tree.

One of my pleasures at the races this year has been chasing Joe all over the place. But better still has been watching the bond between him and his father, who is a strong master's class racer. Joe's a really nice, polite, grounded young man, with a boat load of talent for his age.

There have been a lot of encouraging emails coming in, including one from a yellow jersey holder from this year's tour. Keep them coming, I know they will be appreciated by both Joe and his Dad.