Philippe Gilbert will not feature in BMC's roster for the Tour de France after a recent MRI scan revealed a small, non-displaced fracture on his lower leg. The team believes that the injury is related to his crash at Flèche Wallonne in April.
General Manager Jim Ochowicz says that he sat down with the former world road race champion and came to a mutual agreement that he would miss the Tour. Gilbert was also a non-starter ahead of stage 4 of the Tour de Suisse.
"The MRI showed a small fracture of the postero-lateral tibia head," said Dr. Max Testa, BMC's Chief Medical Officer, in a team press release. "The fracture is small, and not involving the joint articular surface and the injury is not worrisome for his cycling career. Philippe had no particular pain on the bike. But he had been complaining of knee discomfort, especially off of it, and especially going up and down stairs. So we decided to look into it."
ADVERTISEMENT
The injury dates back to April but Gilbert’s performances in the interim don’t suggest it has afflicted him to a great extent. He won two stages and was second in the points classification at the Giro d’Italia in May, something he had hoped would seal his place in the Tour.
"I know with these problems, I can maybe go to the Tour, but not at 100 percent,” said Gilbert. “Even if I do this, I will finish the Tour completely empty and that will mean I will do everything - the Tour and the end of the season - at 80 percent. So at this point, I have to make a choice to skip the Tour. My first objective is to feel healthy again and not feel the pain anymore.
"Of course, I was motivated for the Tour because it is going to pass in a part of Belgium and there is also the nice finish on the Mur de Huy. But the Tour de France is every year. It is not like I am missing something like the Olympic Games. So every year you have a chance to do it and I have already done it a few times and have had a lot of success at this race already.”
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest News http://ift.tt/1BhqZNG
No comments:
Post a Comment