Jasper Philipsen suffers broken collarbone in Tour de France crash

Jasper Philipsen suffered a fractured collarbone and at least one broken rib in the heavy crash that forced him to abandon the Tour de France on stage 3 to Dunkerque.

On Monday evening, his Alpecin-Deceuninck team stated that he will undergo surgery on a displaced fracture of the right collarbone in Herentals, Belgium.

“Preliminary diagnosis for Jasper Philipsen following his crash in stage 3: Displaced fracture of the right collarbone, surgery will definitely be required,” read the Alpecin-Deceuninck statement.

“At least one broken rib, possibly two. He will be as soon as possible transferred to the hospital in Herentals, where he will undergo surgery. We wish Jasper all the best and a speedy recovery.”

Philipsen was initially taken to the nearest hospital immediately after his crash at the intermediate sprint in Isbergues with 60km. Alpecin-Deceuninck general manager Christoph Roodhooft indicated then that Philipsen had not sustained a concussion in the fall, but he confirmed that he was being assessed for a suspected broken collarbone. 

Although Bryan Coquard (Cofidis) issued a tearful apology for his part in Philipsen’s crash, Roodhooft refused to apportion blame for the incident.

“I think it’s not about blaming – it’s just a stupid crash,” Roodhooft said. “These things can happen and the consequences for us as a team and, above all, for Jasper are very bad, but what can you say? I think bad things happen sometimes.” 

Philipsen won the opening stage of the Tour while teammate Mathieu van der Poel took the yellow jersey off him by winning stage 2. In Monday’s finale in Dunkerque, Kaden Groves took over sprint duties, but the Australian had to settle for seventh as Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) powered to victory.

Van der Poel remains in the yellow jersey with a four-second lead over Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG), and in Philipsen’s absence, he may now become a contender for the points classification.