An unusual accident before the start of Saturday's stage of the Tour de l’Eurométropole brought a sudden end to Rick Zabel's season.

The BMC Racing Team rider bruised his sternum and needed seven stitches to close a cut to his chest after he was taken down by the door of a team car while he was riding to the start.

"I was maybe riding 15 or 20 kilometers an hour, just cruising to the start, when the sport director of Lotto-Soudal opened the door really fast as I was riding by," Zabel said. "I had no time to react or space to avoid it, so I hit the frame of the door real hard with my chest and crashed."

Zabel, who won a stage of the Tour of Austria in July, said it was a difficult way to end his second season with the BMC Racing Team.

"My season is over very quickly and unexpectedly," he said. "This is not how you want it to end."

Edward Theuns (Topsport Vlaanderen-Baloise) took the win in Saturday's 173.3-kilometer race and Alexis Gougeard (Ag2r La Mondiale) kept the overall lead with a day of the race to go.

Tom Bohli, in ninth and 19 seconds back, is the BMC Racing Team's best-placed rider in the overall standings.