Rabobank lost a key component of their Tour de France team when Dutch climber, Laurens Ten Dam, went down in a scary crash on a descent in Sunday's second stage of the Tour de Suisse. Ten Dam was expected to be a key helper for Denis Menchov in the mountains of the Tour de France.
The crash resulted in a broken left wrist, two broken vertebrae, a broken chin, and a concussion. Ten Dam will remain in the hospital in Sion, Switzerland under observation for a few days. Rabobank doctor, Dr. Dion van Bommel described Ten Dam's outlook for the coming days: "He will have many painkillers over the next few days. Laurens will remain completely flat for a week. Monday, I will go to the hospital to decide how and when we can get him home. The recovery will take some time, but the Vuelta should still be feasible."
The 29-year-old Ten Dam was justifiably crestfallen after the hard work he had done leading into the Tour de France.
"It's awful. I felt great on Saturday and Sunday. Racing uphill was even easy. I feel now that the altitude training benefits were really showing themselves. This is a tough blow. This is already the third Grand Tour start in the Netherlands that I will miss."
Ten Dam is no stranger to tough injuries - earlier this year, he cracked his hip at the Ruta del Sol. Ten Dam's spot on the nine-man Rabobank roster will be taken by either Pieter Weening or Bram Tankink.