Lidl-Trek's Mattias Skjelmose says he escaped serious injury after crashing out of Paris-Nice on stage seven.
The Dane was third in the overall standings going into Saturday's Queen stage - which was won by Tudor Pro Cycling's Michael Storer - but he fell heavily in the snow and rain after colliding with a traffic divider at around 50 kilometres from the high altitude finish in Auron.
He was immediately surrounded by concerned riders, including his teammate Mads Pedersen, before later being wrapped in blankets and loaded into an ambulance. Television pictures showed him with ripped shorts and an injured right thigh.
An update from Lidl-Trek on Saturday evening confirmed that hospital assessments in Nice had shown that Skjelmose did not suffer any fractures in the incident. The 24-year-old only required stitches to close a wound in his elbow.
Skjelmose later added in a social media post that he will undergo further medical checks when he returns home to Andorra.
"The dream of a podium spot was snatched away from me when I crashed today with 50km to go," he wrote. "After some time in the hospital in Nice, I am now discharged. I’ve had stitches in my elbow, heavy blows to my right knee and hip, and an injury to my back."
He continued: "Cycling is a relentless sport. One day you feel great, the next everything can change in a split second. But you have to remember that the battles to overcome setbacks are just as important as the victory itself.
"In the end, cycling is like life itself - an unpredictable battle where sometimes you win and sometimes you learn to get up after falling. Now it’s about looking forward and recovering as soon as possible."
Skjelmose was the second high profile rider to abandon the race this week after Visma-Lease a Bike’s Jonas Vingegaard did not start stage six to Berre l’Etang. The two-time Tour de France champion was involved in a small crash on stage five and appeared to have injured his wrist.
He managed to complete the stage but was pulled from the race as a precaution the following morning. Vingegaard is set to return to the Tour in July to attempt a third overall victory, so his team explained that it was futile to allow him to continue and risk further damage.
"I think everyone could see that he was in a lot of pain so it’s like it is and we had to make that decision," Visma's Head of Racing Grischa Niermann said on Friday.
