Tim Wellens to miss Tour de France after training crash
Aug 24 2020 09:06 pm CET
Image: Lotto Soudal logo
Lotto-Soudal's Tim Wellens has had to withdraw from the Tour de France roster due to a crash that he had last Friday.
The puncheur was doing motor-pacing training last Friday when they encountered a bump on the ground that he couldn't avoid. The Belgian suffered from road rash and deep wounds all over his body, especially on his right shoulder, elbow and knee, and although he doesn't have any fractures, he won't be able to recover on time for the French grand tour.
"It is hard to describe how disappointed I am," Wellens mentioned. "This is one of the worst crashes I've ever experienced on the bike. I was training behind the scooter when both motorbike and I were surprised by a bump on the road. The scooter managed to avoid the crash. I couldn't. I was so surprised that I had no time to brake. The road rash is so deep because of our high speed. As I have injuries on big parts of my body, I have a higher body temperature and I cannot sleep well. This can never be healed in less than a week. Moreover, further recovery in the Tour de France is really impossible. In that race every stage is like a world championship.
"This feels so bad. I was ready for the Tour. My goal was to win a stage. Especially the first stages suited me - tough stages in a region that I know so well. I did many times a recon of the stages to Nice, Sisteron and Orcières-Merlette."
During the 2019 Tour de France, Wellens wore the Polka-Dot jersey for 15 days. He will be replaced by Frederik Frison.
Lotto-Soudal's roster for the Tour de France (August 29-September 20):
Steff Cras
Jasper De Buyst
Thomas De Gendt
John Degenkolb
Caleb Ewan
Frederik Frison
Philippe Gilbert
Roger Kluge
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