Doctors have said that Tom Boonen could be out of action for six months following his crash at the Abu Dhabi Tour last week. The Etixx-Quick Step rider crashed on Stage 2 and hit his head hard on the tarmac. He was subsequently diagnosed with a fractured temporal bone.
“The doctors speak of six months of doing nothing, for safety. But I believe it is more like a month,” Boonen told the Belgian website Sporza. “That’s about the time that a break needs to recover. They are especially afraid of the trauma, but when I’m back in Belgium, I will be examined thoroughly once more.”
Boonen will have to stay on in the United Arab Emirates for another two weeks whilst the risk of a blood clot subsides before he returns home.
If he does have to stay off the bike for six months, then his 2016 Spring classics season will be scuppered. He currently holds the joint record for the number of Paris-Roubaix wins with four alongside Roger de Vlaeminck, and he is also the joint record holder for Tour of Flanders wins along with five other riders. He has won de Ronde three times.
get well Tom
Oh…..miss Tom…Get well soon!