By Jean-François Quénet in Mercogliano
Française des Jeux had already lost their captain Carlos Da Cruz who broke a foot on the aircraft carrier where the presentation of the Tour of Italy teams took place the day prior to the start. Now the French team is left without their South African sprinter who told Cyclingnews before the start of stage 4 that he was feeling very good and not suffering anymore from his finger injured in a first crash that happened in stage 2.
He crashed twice on the way to Montevergine. "The road was slippery," he explained. "I was just coming back in the bunch after going down two or three kilometers before. It wasn't a bad crash, there were something like 30 riders involved, but I landed on my shoulder."
The 26 year-old from Vereeniging in Gauteng was taken to hospital where a broken collarbone and a broken rib were reported. As no operation is needed, he rejoined his team hotel a few hours later. He'll now have to take a break before returning to competition after the Tour de France.
