Philippe Gilbert and John Degenkolb out of Tour de France
Team Lotto Soudal announced today that the diagnosis of the the stage 1 crash Philippe Gilbert was involved in revealed a broken patella of the left knee. The 38 year old Belgian will be unable to take the start in stage 2 of the Tour de France.
Gilbert said in a press release, “I was riding around position 20 in the peloton when they crashed in front of me. I managed to escape that crash. I passed two, three fallen riders and thought to be safe, but then they crashed again, and this time I couldn’t avoid them anymore. We were lying there with 10-15 guys… Immediately I tried to get up, but that was impossible. I’ve waited there some two minutes, leaning against a guardrail. Then I left alone without being able to really push on the pedals. In a small group of dropped riders, I managed to finish, without being able to help the others. I was in pain. A pain I recognized from 2018…”
The pain Gilbert was referring to was the familiar feeling of the same injury he suffered in the 2018 Tour de France, where he broke the same patella after a crash in the descent of the Portet d’Aspet.
After the finish in Nice and the first medical aid by team doctor Jens De Decker, Gilbert was brought to the medical truck where X-rays did not reveal a major problem. An MRI in the hospital however revealed a fracture.
The press release from TEam Lotto Soudal indicated that this was a new fracture and a period of two-three weeks would be necessary for Gilbert.
Day on of the 107th Tour de France will be a day to forget for Lotto Soudal after teammate John Degenkolb crashed out as well and missed the time cut while riding injured.
Crash victim John Degenkolb (DEU/Lotto-Soudal) is the last rider in race…
“What a disappointment for us”, concluded Philippe Gilbert. “We are both riders who love their sport and job. We always have respect for the races, our team and sponsors. We always fight and share the same values. I have big respect for what John did, finishing after a nasty crash, 65 kilometers alone and arriving two minutes out of time limit. John gave everything, but got zero respect from the commissaires. With the rain and all crashes, at least he deserved the respect to put him in the result, even if, afterwards, he would have been unable to continue.”
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