Surgery required for Vanmarcke after fall in Franco Belge

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Sep Vanmarcke (Garmin-Sharp) has undergone successful surgery for a broken collarbone sustained in a crash during stage 2 at Tour de Wallonie Picarde - Circuit Franco-Belge. The Belgian sent out a message to his Twitter followers shortly after his fall in the four-day race letting them know he was now a real professional.

"They say "you can only say you're a real cyclist, if you once broke your collarbone." Well, guess I am one... Should I be proud now??," he said.

Vanmarcke was barely off the operating table before he sent out a message and photo proudly displaying his scar. The Belgian had been part of the stage 1 breakaway at Franco Belge that contained eventual winner Jürgen Roelandts and was sitting eighth overall when he went down.

"Operation succeed! Thanks for all support!" Vanmarcke said via Twitter.

Vanmarcke became an overnight hero in Belgium when he out-sprinted Tom Boonen (Omega Pharma - Quickstep) in the finale of Omloop Het Nieuwsblad to take the biggest win of his career. The 24-year-old demonstrated great improvement from the following season as he went on to register top-ten placings in Dwars door Vlaanderen - Waregem and E3 Prijs Vlaanderen - Harelbeke.

The Garmin-Sharp rider is yet to announce his team for the coming season with speculation circulating that he had already signed an agreement with RadioShack-Nissan. However, the developing spring classics Belgian has allegedly withdrawn his intention to join the team and has since been in discussions with a number of others including Rabobank.