Marcus Burghardt (BMC) tried to animate the final kilometers of the stage (Image credit: Fotoreporter Sirotti)
Marcus Burghardt was one of several riders to crash during a wet stage 6 of the Tour de France from Arras to Reims and is now a "50-50" probability to start according to BMC's chief medical office Dr. Max Testa
With around 80km left of the 194km stage, Burghardt was caught up in a crash due to the wet roads as he explained.
"It was slippery and one guy was braking and then there were guys crashing in front of me," Burghardt said. "I had a hard impact on the tarmac with my shoulder and felt directly that something was not right."
Burghardt managed to finish the stage and helped BMC's leader Tejay van Garderen from losing any time due to the winds before he crossed the line 6:20 minutes down on compatriot André Greipel (Lotto-Belisol) who won his first Tour stage of 2014.
The German had an X-ray taken at the finish line which revealed no fractures. "Marcus has an AC (acromioclavicular) joint separation," Dr. Testa said. "We put some ice on him and will rest him and see tomorrow morning how he feels. Right now, it is a 50-50 possibility he can take the start."
BMC's sports director Yvon Ledanois said if Burghardt failed to start it would be a loss for the team as he had been crucial in looking after van Garderen on the flat stages.
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"With the wind, there was a lot of tension and nervousness in the race," he said. "The guys did a good job with Tejay. I hope Marcus can continue because he did a good job before the crash and he is one important guy for the team."
