Jurgen Van den Broeck’s crash on Wednesday in the Tour de France will have a bigger effect on his season than he would have hoped for, with the Belgian learning today that he will be sidelined for at least two months.
The two-time top four finisher in the Tour de France was forced to withdraw prior to the start of yesterday’s stage when he was unable to turn the pedals. He left the Tour today and returned to Belgium, where he had a consultation with the doctor Toon Claes in Herentals.
A MRI scan was used to pinpoint the damage, and it was determined that his knee was in a bad way. “A partial crack of the posterior cruciate ligament, a partial crack of the medial ligament, an injury of the cartilage, a bone bruise and a bruise of the patella tendon,” stated his team, listing the various issues.
Blood was also drawn on two occasions out of the knee.
Van den Broeck will need an operation to mend the damage to the cartilage. However there is a further complication; the abrasions he suffered in his fall mean that there is a risk of infection, and so the operation will have to be delayed.
Van den Broeck also crashed out of the 2011 Tour de France, but was able to return for the Vuelta a España, where he finished eighth overall. This time, that plan B looks impossible, as Lotto Belisol believes that he will likely be out of competition for eight to ten weeks.
If so, returning in mid September will not give him much time to rebuild his race sharpness before the end of the season.
Van den Broeck was fourth in both the 2010 and 2012 Tours.