Etixx - Quick-Step rider Tom Boonen suffered bad luck in the 130km Abu Dhabi Tour Stage 2 on Friday. The Belgian rider crashed after the first intermediate sprint at the Yas Marina Circuit, about 55km into the stage. He withdrew from the race as consequence of the crash.

Etixx - Quick-Step, meanwhile, adjusted to the loss of Boonen, setting up Fabio Sabatini for the sprint as the alternative. The race came back together with 2.1km to go as the original breakaway of 6 was down to three riders, and then new attacks from the peloton left some riders up the road until the last kilometers.

As the peloton went into the bunch sprint full gas, Etixx - Quick-Step had several riders in good position for the leadout. However, Elia Viviani (Team Sky) won the stage ahead of Peter Sagan (Tinkoff-Saxo) and Sabatini. The Etixx - Quick-Step leadout was so well positioned that Lukasz Wisniowski was also 5th in the stage.

"Thanks to my @Etixx_QuickStep team for my third place, but the thought is to my captain. ALE  @tomboonen1," Sabatini tweeted after the stage.

Etixx - Quick-Step looks next to 140km Stage 4, from Al Ain to Jabel Hafeet, which is a summit finale.

Immediate hospital examination of Tom Boonen underlined a left temporal bone fracture. Boonen, who lost consciousness for a short moment immediately after the crash, is now conscious and lucid. He will remain in the hospital overnight under observation. Further examinations will be performed tomorrow, and an update will be released after these are performed.

“It does not seem to be serious but we have to be sure. He was sent to hospital for a proper examination and hopefully he will be okay,” the official race doctor Christos Karavolias told Cyclingnews immediately after the stage.

“He had some scratches on the side of his head. It was not severe and was not from his ear it was from outside. We will be say more after we have seen the patient.”