Tour de France: Jakob Fuglsang exits the Tour with fractured rib following heavy Stage 15 crash

Jakob Fuglsang (Israel-Premier Tech) is out of the Tour de France with a fractured rib following a heavy crash on Stage 15.

The Danish climber was involved in a serious accident with around 60km to go on Sunday, which also involved Steven Kruijswijk (Jumbo-Visma) and Martijn Tusveld (Team DSM).

Although Fuglsang was able to finish the stage, an X-ray examination afterwards revealed the extent of the damage to his rib.

As a result, the Israel-Premier Tech medical team came to a decision that the best course of action would be for their rider to abandon the race to recover.

The 37-year-old admitted he was disappointed but accepted that going home to recuperate was necessary.

“But, in this case, I know I have nothing to win by trying to hang on so it’s better to pull the plug, go home and recover.

“I know that it’s too painful to continue so it’s my only option. I hope the team can keep up the good work.

“There are some hard stages to come but they will keep fighting until the end and hopefully get another stage win.”

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