Edvald Boasson Hagen has been ruled out of the remaining of spring Classics after a high-speed crash during Wednesday's Scheldeprijs race.
In 2010 the young Norwegian was sidelined during the spring with an Achilles tendon injury. This season he has missed several races due to the same problem in his other leg and admitted that missing Paris-Roubaix and the other Classics was a bitter blow.
Boasson Hagen crashed during the second of three closing laps when another rider's rear gear went in his front wheel. “It broke several spokes in my front wheel, and I was thrown over the bike,” he told Procycling.no. “I hit a tree at 60 km/h and slammed into it with my right side.”
"I saw Edvald lying on his back, but with his yellow shoes and his kicking legs. It looked like he was walking,” joked teammate Kurt Asle Arvesen. But Boasson Hagen was hurting, not walking and was knocked out by the accident.
“I was probably out for a few seconds. Suddenly a lot of people were around me. There were people from the team and ambulance personnel.”
He must now rest for two to three weeks, and faces a minimum six-week racing break due to the three broken ribs.
“I have not had the best spring, either this year or last year,” he said. “Of course it's tough. But I must take it as it is.'”