Bäckstedt comfortable after shoulder operation

Powering through towards the finish of stage 5 of the Tour of Qatar, Magnus Bäckstedt tangled with Wouter Weylandt of Quickstep as he swung off the front off the bunch. As Team Slipstream-Chipotle team mates Julian Dean and Chris Sutton flew over the top of him, the big Swede was left with a broken right clavicle.

"It was one of those freak accidents, I was coming through full gas with Julian and Chris on my wheel," Bäckstedt said about the crash. "Weylandt looked like he was going fine and I just glanced down to make sure Julian was still on wheel as he swung off. Next thing I was laying in the road watching all the bikes and riders coming towards me. As soon as I sat up the shoulder didn't feel right and as I moved it, I heard a big crunch"

Luckily the surgeon in the UK who put Bäckstedts other shoulder together pulled out all the stops to make sure he could see him. An overnight flight from Qatar and x-rays showing a clean break and a little over an hour later he was in surgery.

After an overnight stay in hospital, he hopes to be back on the turbo within a week and back out on his bike in as quickly as possible. "Us bike riders heal quickly and Paris Roubaix is still my objective," he said. "I have been overwhelmed by the support from my new team. I'd say nearly every team mate has sent me a message of support and I want to thank my new bosses for how they have reacted and supported me after the crash. It's amazing how that can just calm you down in this situation and make you focus on getting back. I even managed to get a DVD of the crash! I'm going to put it on my iPod so that I can keep it as a momento."