Tejay van Garderen (BMC) was forced to abandon Paris-Nice during the opening stage after a pair of crashes. He initially crashed with a handful of other riders on wet roads, but it was a subsequent crash, into a team car, that led to the American’s withdrawal.
“I had the wind knocked out of me and I couldn’t breathe,” van Garderen explained. “I also had pain in my upper back and neck, so I couldn’t really sit up. When the medics arrived and saw my helmet smashed and that I was having trouble breathing, they put me straight into the ambulance. After a few minutes, I realized it wasn’t so bad. The medics went through some concussion protocols and I didn’t show any signs of a concussion. Fortunately, X-rays showed no fractures.
“It’s good to take precautions but in the end, maybe I could have been able to continue. I have pain in my neck and a bit of a headache, but I don’t feel nauseous. Above all, I’m really disappointed. I had good form at Volta ao Algarve and I was hoping to be able to capitalize on that. Hopefully, I can get back on the bike soon, keep moving forward and maybe look at the race program to make up for the missed days here. It’s only March fourth, so there are plenty of races to come.”
BMC doctor, Dr. Michel Cerfontaine, said in a team statement that van Garderen will be able to resume training in about three to four day and will have a follow-up x-ray in a week to determine how the sprain is healing.
