Belgian suffers broken right collarbone after falling with four teammates
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Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) sits on the ground after his crash(Image credit: Courtesy of Polartec-Kometa)
The medics attend to Greg Van Avermaet (BMC) after the crash(Image credit: Courtesy of Polartec-Kometa)
Greg Van Avermaet in a world of pain after crashing out of Flanders(Image credit: Courtesy of Polartec-Kometa)
Greg Van Avermaet holds his left collarbone after crashing(Image credit: Courtesy of Polartec-Kometa)
Belgian Greg Van Avermaet (L) of BMC Racing Team and Swiss Michael Schar (Front) of BMC Racing Team practice during a track reconnaissance, on April 1, 2016, ahead of Tour of Flanders
"He was ready to win the Tour of Flanders but instead he’s ended up in hospital," Valerio Piva said dolefully as he stood in Oudenaarde's main square on Sunday evening. The BMC directeur sportif knows the Classics are a cruel business, but it won’t have tempered his disappointment one jot at the end of a day that saw Greg Van Avermaet forced out of the race when he broke his collarbone in a crash with more than 100 kilometres remaining.
Van Avermaet had lined up in Bruges on Sunday morning as one of the principal favourites for victory in the Tour of Flanders, having seemingly throwing aside the inhibitions that had made him Belgian cycling's nearly man over the past five years.
Five riders down
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Barry Ryan was Head of Features at Cyclingnews. He has covered professional cycling since 2010, reporting from the Tour de France, Giro d’Italia and events from Argentina to Japan. His writing has appeared in The Independent, Procycling and Cycling Plus. He is the author of The Ascent: Sean Kelly, Stephen Roche and the Rise of Irish Cycling’s Golden Generation, published by Gill Books.
