Yesterday Jurgen Van den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol) talked to the press in the team hotel. He told his story of yesterday’s crash, the hours afterwards and about the fact that he was forced to abandon his main objective of the season: the Tour de France.

“In the crash my right knee was hit severely. At first sight I only had some abrasions. But my knee started to swell fast and I couldn’t fold my knee anymore. It turned out there was fluid in my knee. Till half past twelve this night [the night between Thursday and Friday] doctor Mathieu and physiotherapist Tim Aerts took care of my knee. They put ice on it to reduce the swelling and did everything they could to increase my mobility. Yesterday evening I hoped it would be better today. This night I hardly slept a wink. This morning the doctor has drawn 85 cc of fluid out of my knee and it was almost all blood that came out; not a good sign. Then I had a go on the rolls, but during twenty minutes I wasn’t able to make a full rotation. And then you know that starting isn’t an option.”

“It’s indeed the second time I have to leave the Tour because of bad luck. In 2010 and 2012 it all went well for me, I guess the odd years aren’t suited for me although it all began very well. The stages on Corsica played out according to a perfect scenario. Tuesday we rode a magnificent team time trial. But yesterday it went wrong. I was slowing down when Bouhanni and Trentin crashed in front of me. If I had to be there? It’s always possible that there’s a split in the peloton and you lose some seconds, which was the case in the Volta a Catalunya and I wanted to avoid that.”

“Now we have to wait to determine which races I’ll take part in for the rest of this season. If I’ll ride the Vuelta just like in 2011 isn’t sure yet. First I want to see what the doctor says. When I was forced to abandon two years ago, I watched the race at home, but that was torture. I don’t know what I will do this time. Today I’ve watched the last 8 kilometres from my bed. On the one hand it hurts that I wasn’t there, but on the other hand it’s nice to see; it’s great for the team and we’ll definitely celebrate this evening. The contrast can be big: we were euphoric after the successful team time trial, than it was hell because of my crash and now there’s the joy of the victory of André [Greipel].”