Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) has had his build up to the Tour de France interjected by a high speed training crash which also included two Astana team-mates. The Dane, designated Astana leader at the Tour, is the least injured of the three riders, though. 

The incident happened on the island of Tenerife yesterday, with Fuglsang, Andrei Grivko and Assan Bazayev all hitting the asphalt while riding through a right hand hairpin on a descent. 

The good news for Astana was that the trio’s accompanying quintet of Egor Silin, Fredrik Kessiakoff, Dmitriy Muravyev, Alexey Lutsenko and Kevin Seeldraeyers were all able to avoid the fallen riders and remained upright going through the bend. 

The three riders were instantly brought to hospital, where their injuries were evaluated and cured. Fuglsang, who finished second on a stage and fourth overall in last week’s Critérium du Dauphiné, was the least affected; while he has trauma to his elbow and back, his team has indicated that he should be able to resume training in the coming days and thus his participation at the Tour de France should not be in jeopardy. 

The diagnosis for Grivko and Bazayev was grimmer, however. The latter suffered facial injuries and as a result has had to put his Tour de France preparations on standby. He will fly back to Europe and receive further treatment there. As for Grivko, he sustained a hand injury which might be a fractured scaphoid. He is thought to have a 50/50 chance of continuing training for the Tour, with a specialist’s appointment scheduled for Monday to determine his chances of riding the Tour.

The team will provide an update during Monday after additional examinations have been carried out. 

Astana won the Giro d’Italia with Vincenzo Nibali. The Italian will not take part in this year’s Tour, with Fuglsang due to lead the squad there.