Johnny Hoogerland has left the intensive care unit at the Marina Baixa hospital in Villajoyosa and on Friday he will be subjected to further examinations to determine if and when he can return to his native Netherlands.

The Dutch Vacansoleil-DCM rider was seriously injured during a training ride on Sunday, breaking 5 ribs and damaging his spine as he was hit by a car coming around a bend on a slight downhill ride.

”They have stopped giving me morphine”, Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf quoted him as saying, ”and now I feel pain all over my body, most notably in my back and in my stomach”.