Primož Roglič jokingly referred to himself as 'the mummy', as he turned up to the start of stage 4 of the Tour de France wrapped extensively in bandages.
The Jumbo-Visma leader crashed heavily with around 9km remaining on stage 3, losing significant time to his yellow jersey rivals and suffering some painful injuries.
Roglič paid a visit to the X-ray truck after the stage, where it was confirmed he had suffered no broken bones. He was, however, "covered in abrasions from head to toe" after falling heavily into the gravel at the side of the road.
Last year's runner-up vowed to fight on in the race, and he showed up to the start of stage 4 in Redon on Tuesday morning with dressings on his left shoulder, elbow hip, and buttock, and a bandage around his left lower leg.
"The situation is far from good," Roglič wrote alongside a photo uploaded to his social accounts. "But I had to smile, reading all the good wishes and positive thoughts you had sent me.
"The mummy will be on the start today and we will see how it goes."
Aside from the injuries, Roglič, who had started the day fourth overall, conceded a damaging 1:21 to Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) and Julian Alaphilippe (Deceuninck-QuickStep). However, all the other overall contenders were caught up in the string of late crashes, and Roglič's losses to 2020 winner Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) and 2018 winner Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) were 55 seconds.
Speaking in Redon on Tuesday morning, Jumbo-Visma director Merijn Zeeman offered an insight into the effects of Roglič's crash and how they might affect his and the team's ambitions for the Tour de France.
"He's wounded all over his body. A lot of sore bones. He's in a bad situation," Zeeman said.
“It affects a lot. Yesterday everything changed, unfortunately. It's harsh but we need to accept this. Sport shouldn’t be decided like this but it has happened. Months of preparation and then two crashes in the first three days… but that’s how it is."
Stage 4, provided there's not repeat of Monday's chaos, is likely to be a quieter day for the overall contenders but the stage 5 time trial on Wednesday is one of the most important days of the entire Tour.
"Hopefully he can recover a bit then we can see in the time trial. He’s an incredible athlete and an incredible fighter. He goes on the bike today and maybe he will feel a little better," Zeeman said.
"Tomorrow he will have to go full. Hopefully today he can survive."
The pile of crashes and injuries has led to a rider protest on stage 4, with many feeling the narrow roads and downhill stretches in the stage 3 finale were too dangerous. Philippe Gilbert revealed a request to neutralise stage timings with 5km to go was granted by race organisers ASO but rejected by the UCI.
Stage 4 kicks off at 13:25, with reports of a go-slow once they reach kilometre-zero at 13:40.
Follow Cyclingnews for complete live coverage from stage 4.
