Jonas Vingegaard has been discharged from hospital after his recent horror crash at Itzulia Basque Country.
The two-time Tour de France champion suffered extensive injuries in the incident almost two weeks ago. As well as a broken collarbone, Vingegaard suffered a collapsed lung as well as several broken ribs.
The Dane underwent surgery to repair the variety of fractures, including to fix his collarbone.
In a short statement released on social media by his team, Visma-Lease a Bike, Vingegaard said: “Hello everyone, it’s time for me to leave the hospital. I want to thank all the medical staff for taking so good care of me.
“And I want to thank everyone for their moral support. I have received a lot of messages, presents and drawings. Heart warming! Now it’s time to fully recover again. Thumbs up!!”
As well as Vingegaard, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick-Step) and Primož Roglič (Bora-Hansgrohe) were also injured in the crash. Evenepoel fractured his collarbone and shoulder blade and also recently underwent surgery in Belgium.
It is uncertain how long Vingegaard will be out of action for as things stand. He was next due to race at the Critérium du Dauphiné in early June, a race he won last year, before returning to the Tour in July with the aim of winning a third successive yellow jersey.
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Prior to the crash, he was due to head to an altitude camp in the Sierra Nevada in early May. Visma-Lease a Bike sports director Merijn Zeeman recently told HLN that the camp would now not take place.
“Jonas only goes to the Tour if he is 100%,” Zeeman said. “Jonas will miss the altitude training camp on the Sierra Nevada from May 6. If he goes to the Tour, we will have to do it via a different route. If it doesn’t work, we’ll have to come up with a different scenario.”
Speaking to Cycling Weekly at Paris-Roubaix, the team’s general manager Richard Plugge said that the team were fully behind their star rider and would give him all the time he needs to recover before future plans are drawn up.
“We need to give him time and let him recover as a person, as a human being, and only then we can start to think about future plans,” Plugge said.
Meanwhile, Vingegaard’s former teammate Roglič was recently ruled out of all of the Ardennes Classics in order to give him time to fully recover from the crash.
The Slovenian did not sustain any fractures but suffered multiple skin abrasions and severe bruising.