Injured Jakob Fuglsang struggled during stage 12 at the Tour de France
Jakob Fuglsang (Astana)(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Jakob Fuglsang answering questions(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Jakob Fuglsang eventually gave in to his injuries and abandoned the race(Image credit: Courtesy of Polartec-Kometa)
Jakob Fuglsang eventually gave in to his injuries and abandoned the race(Image credit: Courtesy of Polartec-Kometa)
Jakob Fuglsang abandoned the 2017 Tour de France on stage 13. The Astana rider suffered two fractures to his left arm - one near his elbow, the other in his wrist, in a crash during stage 11. He finally succumbed to the pain midway through the arduous 101km stage to Foix.
Before the stage, Fuglsang told NBC Sports that the pain was not during climbs, "the biggest problem is in the downhill and on the bad roads, all the hits, they hurt."
Fuglsang's goal had been to simply finish the stage, and he doubted he could be of help to race leader Fabio Aru.
"Today is going to be pure carnage. For me, it is just to arrive. The rest, they have to deal with trying to keep the jersey, and I have to do my own race trying to arrive," he said.
Following the stage, his team issued a press release, with Fuglsang saying he did all he could to stay in the race, but the whole left side of his body was not working right.
"I had no power to stay in the group. Right from the start the speed of the peloton was very high, so I had to continue following my own rhythm," Fuglsang said. "But before the last climb I've realized, it is just too much for me, I had to give up. It is not easy at all to leave the Tour de France and my team, but there is nothing to do. The main goal for me now is to get a full recovery."
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