Jurgen Van den Broeck (Lotto-Belisol) crashed today in the final phase of the fifth stage of the Tour de France, ridden between Nice and Marseille.

At 200 metres from the finish line several riders crashed. The GC rider of Lotto Belisol was one of the victims. Immediately after the finish, team doctor Jan Mathieu and ostheopath Tim Aerts took care of the unfortunate rider in the team bus.

Jan Mathieu gave his assessment of the extent of the injuries sustained by Van den Broeck: “The nuisance is situated mainly on the right knee where he has a serious swelling. Luckily for Jurgen and the team, he has hasn’t fractured anything. After further treatment, an evening and a night of recuperation we’ll see tomorrow morning how matters stand. We assume he will start tomorrow.”

Jurgen Van den Broeck also gave his account of what happened: “In front of me Bouhanni was one of the riders that crashed and before I realized, I was on the ground. The pain is mainly situated in my knee which was seriously hit. For the rest the damage is not too bad; some minimal abrasions but that heals fast. I’m curious to see how I will get up tomorrow. After three days on Corsica you’re happy that you can start the rest of the Tour in one piece, but as I said several times something can happen here every day.”