Mark Cavendish suffered a broken rib in the crash that ended his participation in the Tirreno-Adriatico during the opening stage on Wednesday, his team said.
The 32-year-old was taken to hospital after suffering a number of injuries in the team time trial which began the week-long stage race in Italy, having crossed the line battered and bloodied.
"He came down pretty hard at around 55km/h and he sustained multiple abrasions and soft tissue injuries to his knees, hips, hands and some swelling on his face as well; but he had a lot of rib pain which we went to x-ray, and found that he has a fracture of the seventh rib on the right side," an update on Thursday from Team Dimension Data doctor Jarrad van Zuydam said.
"The fracture's nice and stable and should heal well."
Cavendish missed the time cut as a result of the crash, automatically ending his participation in the race, and Van Zuydam said the plan had otherwise been to allow him to continue.
Tirreno-Adriatico was Cavendish's first race since he suffered concussion and whiplash in a crash at the Abu Dhabi Tour, continuing a run of bad fortune which appears to have carried over from a 2017 season ravaged by illness and injury.
"Thanks, as always, to everyone that's sent messages, it's hugely appreciated," the 32-year-old Cavendish said.
"It's frustrating to have crashed, particularly in light of the concussion that I sustained in Abu Dhabi, but I'm just pleased that there's no major damage done.
"Despite the pain from my injury I was really looking forward to a fast second stage and naturally disappointed that I'm not going to be a part of it."
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