Tejay van Garderen (EF Education First) will not start stage 8 at the 2019 Tour de France after fracturing his thumb in a crash early during stage 7 on Friday. The American went down just 7km into the 230km stage from Belfort to Chalon-Sur-Saone, finishing the final 223km after visiting the medical car, but his team said Friday evening that the 30-year-old`s injuries were too severe to continue. Doctors from EF Education First and the race examined van Garderen immediately at the finish line and determined the rider required an X-ray, which was performed by the race radiologist. The X-ray confirmed that van Garderen had broken his hand. `After today´s stage, Tejay had his wounds cleaned and bandaged,` said EF Education First doctor Kevin Sprouse. `We then went for an X-ray. In addition to multiple abrasions, it was determined that he has a non-displaced fracture at the base of his first metacarpal on the left hand. He has been placed in a splint and will not start stage eight.`ADVERTISEMENT Van Garderen, who finished the stage with blood on his legs, hands and face, was obviously disappointed to leave his eighth Tour, adding that he had no one to blame but himself. `The crash was a result of a personal error,` said the two-time top-five Tour de France finisher. `I was looking down at my bike because I saw something caught up in it, like a piece of paper, so I was looking down and I hit a median. I have no one to blame but myself, and I really hope that no one else got hurt because of me.` Van Garderen was slated to be a key lieutenant in the mountains for general classification contender Rigoberto Uran, who finished second to Chris Froome (Team Ineos) in 2017. Van Garderen would also have been a card to play with Canadian Michael Woods as the team hunts stage wins in the mountains.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
|
