Luck was not on the team’s side today at Ronde van Vlaanderen, as a crash has left John Degenkolb, Tim Naberman and Alex Edmonson all with injuries that are set to sideline them for the upcoming period.
Building into his favourite part of the season with promising results and growing form, Degenkolb lined-up at Ronde van Vlaanderen wanting to put on a strong ride over the cobbles ahead of his favourite race the following weekend, Paris-Roubaix.
Unfortunately, disaster struck for Degenkolb, Naberman and Edmonson as a rider crashed right in front of them at 126 kilometres remaining. With nowhere to go the Team Picnic PostNL trio hit the deck. Leaving the race and taken to hospital for x-rays and checks, they revealed that Degenkolb fractured his collarbone, elbow and wrist. Naberman also fractured his wrist in the fall, while Edmondson has a sprained ankle.
Team Picnic PostNL doctor Camiel Aldershof said: “John hit the ground with quite a lot of force in the crash; and the in-race medical team immediately suspected a fractured collarbone. He was transferred to the local race hospital where further checks and x-rays were conducted. Those then unfortunately confirmed that John indeed fractured his collarbone, alongside his wrist and elbow on the same side. He will undergo surgery on his wrist, before a period of recovery. Timelines can often change but we expect him to be out of competition for two months. At the moment Tim doesn’t need surgery, but we will do another control and check on him this coming week to see if that situation changes, but of course he will be out of racing too while he recovers. Alex will rest his ankle and we will see how he progresses over the upcoming week or so.”
