Pro Cyclist Ronan Augé Suffers Facial Paralysis after Brutal Crash

Ronan Augé suffered fractures to his thigh, elbow, fingers, vertebra, and skull, and was put into a medically induced coma after he was caught in a horror crash at the Tour de Langkawi.

But the 22-year-old pro isn’t letting all that get him down.

Augé, who races with Unibet Rose Rockets, was able to make a joke out of an Instagram post he shared revealing he’s also been left with partial facial paralysis.

“50 percent of my face is paralyzed from a bike fall. A new career as a professional grimacer awaits me,” Augé joked Sunday when he shared a video of himself failing to move the side of his face.

“The impact damaged my right facial nerve,” Augé added in the comments to the post. “With time and rehabilitation, it should hopefully recover. And if it doesn’t, surgery could be an option. So I’m staying optimistic.”

Augé has been in a hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, for more than two weeks since a brutal fall he’d initially suggested could have killed him.

“My greatest victory is simply being alive,” he wrote six days after he crashed so severely on stage 6 of the Tour de Langkawi that he was placed into an induced coma.

Augé gets ‘two weeks all-inclusive’ in Kuala Lumpur hospital room

Fifteen days after the crash, the young French sprinter was staying positive about his recovery and pumping out dubious jokes.

“Two weeks all-inclusive in Kuala Lumpur … Soon back to France! The visit was not planned, but the staff was very careful,” he wrote Saturday in a separate Instagram post.

“PS: I’ll choose the hotel for the next vacation,” he added.

Augé’s post includes slides depicting his rehab process, video messages from friends, and even details of an MTB race he’s organizing in Beyrie-en-Béarn.

Augé has vowed that he won’t let such a devastating crash destroy his racing dreams, and has a contract running through 2027 with Unibet Rose Rockets.

Hopefully he’ll have regained full facial mobility a long time before then.