Zico Waeytens broke a bone in his left wrist when he crashed over a bidon on the road in the feed zone of the first stage of the Etoile de Besseges. The Verandas Willems-Crelan rider was scheduled for surgery Saturday morning.
"Somebody (not on purpose) could not take his musette properly during the feeding zone! My front wheel flipped over his full bidon and I could not avoid to crash... Let us see what the night/morning brings and hopefully my wrist is doing a miracle !!!!!” he Tweeted on Wednesday.
On Friday, x-rays showed that the bone was fractured in several places and that surgery was required.
The 26-year-old kept his sense of humour, Tweeting a photo of a hospital gown with the brand name "Dumoulin”, saying “I know that @tom_dumoulin is a fashion boy, but I did not know that he even have his own brand of hospital dresses... Stylish Tommy".
Waeytens was a teammate of the Giro d’Italia winner from 2015 to 2017, transferring to the Belgian Pro Conti team this season. In September of last year, Team Sunweb announced that Waeytens’ 2018 contract had been terminated by mutual agreement.