Reuters
NOS Cycling•
Frustrating is the word Steven Kruijswijk uses most often these days. He rode a strong Tour, was ready to guide his leader Jonas Vingegaard through the tough final week, until he crashed in a transition stage on Sunday and broke his collarbone and shoulder blade.
“I soon realized that my shoulder was also dislocated,” says the 35-year-old Dutchman, who has now returned home with a brace around his right arm.
“In the hospital it turned out that the shoulder at the back was dislocated, that is quite rare. Just putting it back yourself, which Primoz did in stage 5, is then not an issue anyway. But my collarbone was also broken and the shoulder blade is broken.”
This fall meant the end of the Tour for Kruijswijk:
Tour de France over for Kruijswijk, who is removed by stretcher
His collarbone was first secured, the shoulder was placed back in the socket and then he flew to the Netherlands to undergo a few more scans. “The shoulder did not have to be operated on, which is positive. Operations and cutting in the body are never beneficial. It is better when it heals naturally. And the doctors were positive about that.”
He can’t do much, can’t move his arm for the next few weeks. He is not thinking about racing in the near future. “This season I put it out of my mind.”
Tour via tv
He now has to follow the Tour on television. “That last week was going to be important. I noticed in the Alps that I was at the level I had in mind. It all looked good. Then you don’t think that you will fall in such a stage and that this will happen.”
In the meantime, his leader still rides in the yellow jersey. “I’m confident when you see how good we are. But it’s not over yet.”
