Greg Van Avermaet underwent successful surgery to secure a small, non-displaced, distal left fibula fracture, BMC Racing Team Chief Medical Officer Dr. Max Testa today confirmed.
 
"Greg underwent surgery on his left ankle following an accident while riding his mountain bike. A small plate and a few screws were used to stabilize the fracture and the surgery, which was performed by Dr. Tim Leenders of the AZ Monica hospital in Antwerp, went very well. Greg stayed overnight in hospital but will be discharged this morning wearing a walking boot," Dr. Testa explained.
 
"Greg will start working with the physical therapist right away so we expect that he will be able to pedal on a stationary bike in two weeks' time, and gradually increase the training load and start to use his road bike in four to six weeks. We will continue to monitor Greg's recovery progress and his condition and training program will be re-evaluated at BMC Racing Team's training camp in December in conjunction with the medical, training and management staff."
 
Van Avermaet is feeling as well as expected following surgery.
 
"I feel fine. Of course it's better to not have an injury like this but I cannot change it, and it's better now than in January. I now have some extra weeks to recover before getting back on the bike in around four weeks, and then I'll still have a big block of training before the season starts so it should be fine," Van Avermaet said.
 
"It was my first training ride after a few weeks off. I went into a corner, maybe a bit too fast and there was water on the ground and I didn't want to go straight into that, so I put my foot down, and this is what caused the fracture."
 
Van Avermaet will no longer be present at the Gent Six Day event on Tuesday evening to fire the starting shot.