Jan Bakelants (AG2R La Mondiale) underwent spinal surgery on Friday afternoon in Belgium to repair injuries suffered in his crash at Il Lombardia last week.
The surgery followed Bakelants’ return to Belgium from Italy, where he has been in hospital in Como since his crash.
"It has been a long day with a lot of pain, but now that Jan is in the country, there is light at the end of the tunnel," Bakelants’ manager Dries Smets told Sporza before the operation in Leuvens.
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"Today's surgery has to happen,” Smets told Sporza. “Jan has a lot of pain on his ribs, but an unstable back vertebra is something else. That's a sensitive part in a human body, which you need to be very careful about. That vertebra needs to be fixed."
Bakelants crashed on a corner during the descent of the Sormano last Saturday, along with two other riders. Quick-Step Floors rider Laurens De Plus also came off on the corner prior to that as he chased down Bakelants' teammate Mikael Cherel at the front of the race. Bakelants was one of the worst affected along with UAE Team Emirates' Simone Petilli, who was released from hospital on Friday.
Bakelants broke two dorsal (D8 and D10) and two lumbar (L1 and L3) vertebrae as well as seven ribs in the crash. He was immediately taken to Sant'Anna hospital in Como and remained there until his move to Leuven by plane on Thursday.
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