Voeckler shrugs off broken collarbone sustained at Amstel Gold

Image 1 of 4

A crash sustained at the beginning of last week at the Amstel Gold Race may have left Thomas Voeckler with a fractured collarbone but with the Frenchman's objectives looming ahead in July at the Tour de France he is leaving little to chance. Voeckler will return to training this weekend and has made a commitment to return to competition less than a month from the accident date at the four-day 2.2 Rhône Alpes Isère Tour.

Voeckler was one of a number of favourites who crashed at the opening Ardennes classic with a little under 100km still to race and was forced to abandon along with Andy Schleck - who suffered superficial wounds. Voeckler however, was immediately taken to hospital after the fall before undergoing surgery the next day.

Personal results have been slim for Voeckler so far this year despite a very-near miss at Dwars door Vlaanderen but his main goals lie at the Tour and so he will be doing everything in his power to ensure he does not arrive at this year's edition with lingering effects of injury like in 2012.

"Thomas is expected to resume competition in the Rhône Alpes Isère Tour from 9 to 12 May. He should also resume his training this weekend," read a statement from his personal site.

Following the four-day French race Voeckler is scheduled for the Tour of Belgium and finally the Critérium du Dauphiné as his last race before starting his home grand tour on June 29.

Arriving at last year's race without intentions to challenge for the general classification the plucky Frenchman still managed to win two stages and capture the mountains classification. His long-range raids in the mountains were enough to land him victories on Stage 10 and 16 but it is his ten days in the maillot jaune and fourth-overall in 2011 that is closest to his heart.