Philippe Gilbert was forced to abandon the Tour de France on Tuesday evening, after picking up an injury following a crash on the descent of Col de Portet-d’Aspet, his Quick Step Floors team has confirmed.
Following on from the crash, the Belgian went on to finish the stage but further examination at the Toulouse hospital revealed that he had suffered a fracture on the lateral pole of his left patella. The knee fracture will keep Gilbert off the bike for a few weeks and out of competition for at least six weeks.
Gilbert had been part of the day’s break and was rewarded for his effort with the most combative rider prize and he spoke about the crash after receiving his award.
“First of all, I want to say that I’m happy to be here after that tough moment,” he said. “I landed pretty hard on some stones, and initially didn’t want to move, but someone from Mavic came and helped me stand up and crawl back from that ravine. This isn’t how I wanted to finish my Tour and leaving it like this really hurts.”
His Quick-Step Floors team-mate and the day’s stage winner Julian Alaphilippe witnessed the accident.
“Seeing his bike on the ground I got a bit scared, so I slowed down on the descent,” said Alaphilippe. “It’s a real pity he crashed and is now out of the Tour. He’s been a huge helper for the team during the race and he deserves a lot of credit for the role played in our success.”
Gilbert’s crash was the second setback of a bittersweet day for Quick-Step Floors, after the abandon of Tour de France debutant Tim Declercq who was forced to call it a day due to illness, just five stages from Paris.
