An elbow fracture sustained in a crash on stage three of the Santos Tour Down Under that forced Marcus Burghardt to withdraw from the race will prevent him from racing in the early part of the 2016 season.

Burghardt was left with two small fractures to the left elbow extending into the joint surface after crashing in the final 15 kilometres of the stage into Campbelltown.

BMC Racing Team Team Physician Dr Scott Major said the injury will take some time to heal.

“Marcus will be off the bike for a week, and then restricted to riding his indoor trainer for another few weeks. He should then be ready to train again on the roads, however his racing schedule will most likely be postponed for 6-8 weeks.”

It is disappointing to start the season this way said Burghardt.

“First my elbow needs to heal and then I’ll start training on the rollers, before I am hopefully back riding outside in three weeks’ time. We’ll have to see how things are going with the injury but I hope to be back racing as soon as possible.

“I was feeling good in the first stages of the Tour Down Under. It is a shame that I didn’t really have the chance to test how good my form is right now. I think after a little bit of rest, I’m positive that I’ll still have a good season.”

BMC Racing Team’s rider schedule will be modified to allow Burghardt to recover as well as possible.

“You’re looking at two different sides of Marcus’ injury. There’s the Santos Tour Down Under and with Marcus having to withdraw, we are left one rider short. Of course we’d like to have the advantage of a full team and have Marcus’ expertise here to try and win the race,” BMC Racing Team General Manager, Jim Ochowicz said.

“His racing objectives for the season include the Classics starting with Milan-San Remo. So we want to evaluate his injuries as we go forward, get him back on the bike and allow his training to continue at a level that his injury allows.”

Burghardt will be replaced by Rick Zabel to complete BMC Racing Team’s roster for the Cadel Evans Road Race on January 31.