Argos-Shimano rider crashes in Vattenfall Cyclassics
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Koen de Kort (Argos-Shimano) opens his season Down Under(Image credit: Sirotti)
Koen de Kort, collarbones intact before the start(Image credit: Sonja Csury)
Argos-Shimano had its share of ups and downs in the Vattenfall Cyclassics: the joy of John Degenkolb's sprint victory was tinged in sadness for teammate Koen de Kort, who suffered a broken collarbone in a crash during the race in Hamburg, Germany.
It was the second time this season that the Dutch rider has suffered a fractured clavicle: his first was at the Tour of Qatar in February.
“This is a big disappointment for me personally today,” de Kort said. “I was sat near the front of the peloton together with John and someone on the right crashed and took me with him.
“It wasn’t the same pain as I felt after my crash in Qatar earlier in the year where I broke my collarbone as well, but the race doctor had a look and in the hospital they confirmed that my left collarbone was broken."
De Kort was an important part of the Argos team's successful Tour de France, where Marcel Kittel won four stages and wore the maillot jaune for a day, but now he will try to recover in time to race in the late season.
“I was just starting to felt really good again after the Tour and I still had some goals left for this year. Now I will take time to fully recover and see if there is something to work for towards the end of the season.”
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