“Alejandro Valverde successfully underwent surgery last night at Duesseldorf's University Hospital to fix some of the injuries sustained in his race-ending crash,” Movistar said in a statement.
“The operation not only consisted on healing his most serious fracture -- the kneecap of his left leg -- but also took care of and closed two important wounds in Alejandro's tibia and gluteus.”
The 37-year-old Valverde, who was to be Colombian Nairo Quintana’s key team mate in the three-week race, crashed into a safety barrier during Saturday’s opening time trial.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Clare Fallon)
