Gert Steegmans (Quick Step) is out of commission for at least 3 days following a crash in stage two of the Tour de Picardie. The Belgian was on the receiving end of an incident that took much of the peloton out of the picture for the stage with 15 kilometers remaining. He flew back to Belgium where an examination and x-rays revealed a fracture to his seventh rib.
"In a downhill stretch some riders fell on the left, creating a domino effect that also took down riders on the right side of the road,” Steegmans explained. “To avoid one of them I ended up off road, in the middle of a forest, and I couldn't avoid a tree. It could have been worse. Now I'll take it easy for 3 days and then I'll try to get back on a bike. Normally everything should work out in a few days."
With this setback Steegmans' participation in the Tour of Belgium is at risk. The team will continue to evaluate the situation and hope he heals quickly.
Steegmans recently got his career back on track following two years of tough luck with injury. He moved away from the Quick Step team in 2009 to ride for the then new Katusha squad, but a sciatic injury and a team anti-doping addendum to his contract saw him lose an entire season. The following year he rode for the American RadioShack squad, but in March his progress was slowed by a broken collarbone in a freak time trial accident. He recovered in time to post some solid results at the end of the season prompting his former Quick Step team to take him back. In March he scored victory in Nokere-Koerse to break his two-year winless streak.