Early this morning Jürgen Van den Broeck left the team hotel of Lotto Belisol. Immediately after his arrival in Zaventem he had a consultation with doctor Toon Claes in Herentals, during which an MRI scan was taken to determine the seriousness of the injury.

That the knee was hit considerably was already clear Thursday morning when taking to the start of stage six wasn’t an option for Van den Broeck. This assessment was confirmed today. A partial crack of the posterior cruciate ligament, a partial crack of the medial ligament, an injury of the cartilage, a bone bruise and a bruise of the patella tendon was concluded. Apart from that also blood was drawn out of the knee twice.

The injury of the cartilage will be mended next week with an operation. Because of the abrasions this operation can’t take place now due to danger of an infection.

This means a presumable inactivity of competition of eight to ten weeks, depending on the result of the arthroscopy.