Siutsou out of Tour de France after fracturing leg
Bahrain-Merida rider crashes heavily at Tour de Slovenie
Kanstantsin Siutsou will miss the Tour de France as he has to undergo surgery following a crash on stage 2 of the Tour de Slovenie. Siutsou fractured his left femoral bone when he came down on the second descent of the day and was taken to hospital.
Doctors confirmed that he had suffered a leg fracture that it will require immediate surgery according to his Bahrain-Merida team.
"After the return from the hospital team doctor Marjan Koršič informed us that Kanstantsin needed to be urgently operated," a team statement read. "He has a complicated fracture of the left femoral bone. In the next few days, we will be able to give more information about the surgery prospective view for the future.
"Kanstantsin Siutsou's injury will have consequences not only for this race but most of all for Tour de France. We wish Kanstantsin to recover soon and to return on the bike and races as soon as possible."
It wasn't the best of stages for the Bahrain-Merida team, who also saw Luka Pibernik go down as torrential rain hammered down on the peloton in the final 30 kilometres. Pibernik's incident occurred on the run to the line as a flurry of crashes happened on the slippery roads. The result was a stitch to his left elbow and three to his shin. Unlike his teammate, Pibernik was able to continue.
Sonny Colbrelli avoided crashing himself, but he was forced to navigate stricken riders and could only manage seventh in the chaotic finale.
The Tour de Slovenie will continue with its Queen stage on Saturday, June 17 from Celje to the summit finish in Rogla. Home rider Luka Mezgec leads the race after taking victory on stage 2.
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