Voeckler misses Tour Down Under after crash

One of the marquee names scheduled to compete in the January 19-26 race in and around Adelaide, Voeckler collided with a stationary car and X-rays revealed he had broken his right collar bone.

Voeckler misses Tour Down Under after crash

(Reuters)





"During training this morning, a pedestrian crossed the road so a car braked very quickly and I didn't have time to stop and I bumped into the car," the 34-year-old Voeckler was quoted as saying in a statement released by race organisers.

"I immediately realised that my collar bone had been broken for a third time.

"Thanks to the organisers, we rushed to the hospital and X-rays showed it was broken so I have to go back to France, go to the hospital and see how long it will take before I can get back on the bike again."

The 2012 Tour de France King of the Mountains winner underwent a minor operation earlier this month to remove a metal plate that was inserted after he had fractured the collar bone a second time last April.

"It's been 12 days since the other plate was removed and it was okay but I must not crash on it," said the rider, who plans to fly out of Adelaide on Thursday.

Europcar manager Andy Flickinger said the team was not considering a replacement and would start the race with the remaining six riders - Yukiya Arashiro, Perrig Quemeneur, Bjorn Thurau, Kevin Reza, Jerome Cousin and Angelo Tulik.

"There were a lot of people looking forward to seeing Thomas in action as he has a strong fan base in Australia but our first concern is for his welfare and we wish him all the best for a speedy recovery," race director Mike Turtur said.

(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty; Editing by John O'Brien)


Share

2 min read

Published

Updated

Source: Reuters


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world