Tinkoff-Saxo rider Polish Rafal Majka is out of the Volta a Catalunya, which starts on Monday. The unfortunate rider was part of the crash in the last kilometres of the last Paris-Nice stage and even though the first report from the team said he was ready, he is still suffering too much to start the Spanish race.

Tinkoff-Saxo climber, Rafal Majka was involved in a bunch sprint pile-up in the final kilometer of the final stage of Paris-Nice where he was building form for the Volta a Catalunya. He’s still suffering from the hard encounter with the French asphalt and is now out of the race before it begins
 
“Rafal is in good shape and had just done 4.5 hours of training yesterday but the pain from a swollen elbow makes it impossible for him to participate in a very demanding race such as Volta a Catalunya. He’s replaced by our young and coming climber, Jesper Hansen who has already shown good form this season. I don’t expect him to fill out Rafa’s shoes. Jesper is only 23 years old and this is his rookie year as a full-time professional but I know he will do his very best to fulfill our expectations,” says Philippe Mauduit.
 
The Volta Catalunya line-up: Alberto Contador, Jesper Hansen, Chris Anker Sørensen, Jesus Hernandez, Sergio Paulinho, Bruno Pires, Rory Sutherland and Pawel Poljanski.