A broken collarbone, and perhaps more worryingly, a broken wrist: exactly how competitive can Mads Pedersen expect to be when the first big races on his own personal calendar roll around in six weeks' time?
The Dane is slated to ride Milan-San Remo on March 21, before going on to race at the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix. But after crashing hard in yesterday's Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana his whole Spring campaign has been put in jeopardy. Adding insult to injury, it was his first race of the season – and he didn't even get to finish.
His Lidl-Trek team confirmed the details of his injuries last night and said he would be having surgery today (Thursday 5 Feb), adding:
"Lidl-Trek's first priority is to ensure Mads receives the best possible care, and the primary focus is on achieving the most successful recovery possible to minimize the impact on his seasonal goals. We will communicate his return to racing in due course, and if necessary, we will share updates."
The standard recovery time for a collarbone break is around six weeks, but wrist fractures can be more complex and require a longer recovery time – especially for a cyclist who is required to grip the handlebars and especially in races such as the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, with brutal cobblestones that require every ounce of grip strength and control.
The 30-year-old is likely to be riding the trainer again within the week, but he will miss out on the long, hard racing and riding that he would usually expect to put in at this time of year – the rest of the five-day Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana, for a start, which continues today with a 17km time trial and with all eyes on Remco Evenepoel.
Pedersen, a three-time Ghent-Wevelgem winner and former world champion, had been in ebullient form at the start of the season, declaring his intention to win his first Monument in the Spring, and saying how he felt that he could beat riders like Tadej Pogačar, Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert on the right day.
We are still awaiting an update from Pedersen himself, but his crash will have dealt his plans a potentially devastating blow.
