Jan Bakelants (AG2R La Mondiale)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Jan Bakelants (AG2R La Mondiale)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Jan Bakelants talks with reporters after GP de Montreal(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Jan Bakelants at the finish of Grand Prix Montreal(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Jan Bakelants and Mathias Frank(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Jan Bakelants (AG2R La Mondiale), who suffered multiple fractures in a bad crash at Il Lombardia, has undergone spinal surgery and is now on the road to recovery.
The 31-year-old Belgian took to Twitter to share his good news on Monday.
Bakelants hit the deck hard descending from the Sormano climb in the season's final Monument, one of several riders to crash on the tricky downhill run. The incident left him with two broken dorsal vertebrae, two broken lumbar vertebrae and seven broken ribs.
The spinal fractures made surgery a necessity.
After spending several days at a hospital in Italy immediately after his crash, Bakelants was transferred to a larger university hospital in Leuven, Belgium for the operation. Considering the extent of his injuries, his cycling future remains unknown.
"It's the intention to return as a cyclist, but it's too early to post a date," his manager Dries Smets told Sporza last week. "In fact, we have not talked about the pursuit of his career yet. His care is at the moment the most important thing. That he is now in the hands of specialists gives Jan courage. Light comes at the end of the tunnel.”
In any case, Bakelants has now made it over the first hurdle, and now begins a lengthy recovery process.
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