Tour de France: Jakob Fuglsang exits the Tour with fractured rib following heavy Stage 15 crash

ByEurosport

Published 18/07/2022 at 09:12 GMT

"In this case, I know I have nothing to win by trying to hang on so it’s better to pull the plug, go home and recover." An X-ray following Stage 15 confirmed that Jakob Fuglsang suffered a fractured rib in a heavy crash. The news comes a day after Israel-Premier Tech also lost Simon Clarke from the Tour with Covid.

Jakob Fuglsang (Israel-Premier Tech) is out of the Tour de France with a fractured rib following a heavy crash on Stage 15.

The Danish climber was involved in a serious accident with around 60km to go on Sunday, which also involved Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma) and Martijn Tusveld (Team DSM).

Kruijswijk was ultimately ruled out of the Tour with a horrific shoulder injury.

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Although Fuglsang was able to finish the stage, an X-ray examination afterwards revealed the extent of the damage to his rib.

As a result, the Israel-Premier Tech medical team came to a decision that the best course of action would be for their rider to abandon the race to recover.

• Kruijswijk out of Tour with horror injury, Vingegaard crashes on nightmare day for Jumbo

The 37-year-old admitted he was disappointed but accepted that going home to recuperate was necessary.

“Of course, I am disappointed," Fuglsang said. "I’ve tried to race with a fractured rib before and fight through it and make it all the way until the end.

"But, in this case, I know I have nothing to win by trying to hang on so it’s better to pull the plug, go home and recover.

"I know that it’s too painful to continue so it’s my only option. I hope the team can keep up the good work.

"There are some hard stages to come but they will keep fighting until the end and hopefully get another stage win.”

The news comes as a double blow for the Israel team who, just 24 hours earlier, saw Stage 5 winner Simon Clarke withdraw with Covid-19.

Tour de France Stage 15 highlights as Philipsen sprints to historic first win

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