Jasper Philipsen has undergone successful surgery on his collarbone and acromioclavicular joint after suffering fractures in the stage 3 crash that saw him forced out of the Tour de France, his Alpecin-Deceuninck team have announced.
Stage 1 winner and green jersey holder Philipsen was gearing up to contest the intermediate sprint during Monday's stage from Valenciennes to Dunkerque before he was inadvertently taken down by Bryan Coquard (Cofidis). Coquard, who himself crashed twice, subsequently apologised for the incident.
Philipsen hit the ground hard, sliding for some distance along the tarmac on his back. His withdrawal was quickly confirmed as he was tended to by team and race doctors at the roadside, and he was later confirmed to have suffered a broken collarbone.
"Stage 3 of the Tour de France delivered us a tough day and a heartbreaking moment, as Jasper Philipsen was forced to leave the race after a heavy crash during the intermediate sprint for the green jersey," Alpecin-Deceuninck announced in a post to Instagram on Tuesday morning, accompanied by a photo of Philipsen giving a thumbs up.
"In the meantime, he underwent a successful surgery last night at AZ Herentals to repair his collarbone and AC joint. Thank you to Dr. Steven and Dr. Tom Claes for their excellent care. Now the road to recovery begins, and we’ll be behind him all the way."
The Belgian team had dominated the Tour's opening weekend, helping Philipsen to score his 10th stage win and first yellow jersey during the opening stage in Lille before Mathieu van der Poel powered to victory and into the race lead on stage 2's uphill finish at Boulogne-sur-Mer.
Kaden Groves, seventh on stage 3, will now take over the flat sprint duties for the squad, while Van der Poel could spy another opportunity as early as today, a Classics-style hilly stage from Amiens to Rouen.
Van der Poel, who will be leading out Groves going forward as well as taking his own chances for more wins, told Het Nieuwsblad that the atmosphere in the team has taken a hit following the loss of Philipsen.
"The disappointment is enormous. It is a great shame, especially for Jasper. When I saw him sitting on the ground, I immediately saw that it did not bode well," he said.
"We're all very sad to lose Jasper – not only on the bike, either He's a friend and always lightens the mood in the team with his great sense of humour.
"But I think he can be proud of his victory in the first stage and of wearing the yellow jersey. Knowing Jasper, he must be very disappointed, but he will quickly turn the corner and concentrate on his next goal.
"The mood in the team has taken a hit. I hope we can regain our concentration and have another great day."
Tadej Pogačar, who lies second overall at four seconds from Van der Poel, wrote that he was "very sad" to see his friend and former UAE teammate Philipsen leave the race.
"Another crazy day done. I started honoured and happy with the polka dot jersey for a day, but super sad to see Jasper Philipsen hit the deck so hard – you will be back in no time," the defending champion wrote.
Philipsen's crash was one of many during an otherwise uneventful day of racing. Coquard was also caught up in a crash during the sprint finish, somersaulting over several other riders during a hectic final.
The Frenchman, one of four riders handed a yellow card for irregular sprinting during stage 3, "has a burn all over his left flank, multiple superficial wounds, and burns," according to his Cofidis team.
Davide Ballerini (XDS-Astana), Paul Penhoët (Groupama-FDJ), Arnaud De Lie (Lotto), and Emilien Jeannière (TotalEnergies) also went down in the late crash. De Lie and Penhoët both escaped unscathed, while Astana directeur sportif Mark Renshaw said that Ballerini was "in a fair amount of pain" after going down hard.
Jeannière suffered "a facial trauma with no signs of severity, multiple contusions, particularly to the shoulder, and stitched wounds", his team reported.
Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe riders Jordi Meeus and Laurence Pithie were caught in an earlier crash, though inside the final kilometres and so covered by the new 5km rule. All escaped with scrapes, avoiding any serious injury.
Despite the numerous crashes that marked stage 3, no further abandons have been reported at time of writing, with Philipsen the only loss heading into stage 4.
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