Atapuma undergoes succesful surgery on femur

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BMC's Darwin Atapuma has undergone successful surgery on his left femur which was broken during stage 7 of the Tour de France. The Colombian, who was making his Tour debut, was brought down in the same crash as BMC's GC candidate Tejay van Garderen with 16km left in the stage to Nancy.

Atapuma underwent X-rays and a CT scan after the stage which revealed a fracture of the distal femur. BMC's Chief Medical Officer Dr. Max Testa described the injury as "a non-displaced fracture but it is intra-articular, so most likely it will require some surgery."

The 26-year-old underwent surgery in Nancy on Saturday where he was visited by BMC staff.

"The surgery went well and now he is in recovery," Dr. Testa said. "The plan is to stay at the hospital for one or two days and then we will organize an ambulance transfer to his place in Italy where he will start physical therapy in the next two or three days."

The second phase of Atapuma's recovery is yet to be determined with the team to decide whether he will remain in Italy or travel to the United States, where team staff can oversee his rehabilitation, Dr. Testa added