Peter Sagan is still in pain after his Tour of Flanders crash and is using today’s Scheldeprijs race as a test for Paris-Roubaix, according his Bora-Hansgrohe team.
Sagan crashed after snagging a jacket with his handlebars on Sunday. He finished the race, but complained of pain from his right hip.
“Everything was OK and [the X-rays were] fine, nothing was broken and there were no fractures,” Sports Director Enrico Poitschke told Cycling Weekly.
>>> New footage reveals how Peter Sagan crashed at the Tour of Flanders
“All of his muscles hurt and some small things, it’s painful but nothing serious. We will see today how everything is.”
After resting in his team hotel in Roeselare on Monday, and riding for only two hours on Tuesday, Sagan’s performance in today’s 202km race will be closely monitored by Poitschke and the rest of the team staff as a gauge on his recovery ahead of Paris-Roubaix.
Watch: Peter Sagan’s Tour of Flanders crash
“He did not have the best feeling the day after the crash but day by day it has got better. Today, we will see how it goes in the race and then we will see afterwards how he is,” Poitschke added.
“Could it affect Paris-Roubaix? That was a hard crash and all the crashes take something out of you. He feels OK and he rode right after the crash, but it’s far from perfect.”
Sagan rode along the dirt gutter inches away from the barriers to avoid the rough cobbles at the top of the Oude Kwaremont climb.
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Video footage of the incident showed that a fan’s black jacket hung the barrier caused him to crash. Asked if Sagan would continue to ride in the gutter so close to the fans, Poitschke said that it was “hard to say.”
“The guys know that it’s dangerous to be so close to the spectators, but in the race, you’re sometimes so focused and you can’t watch everything,” Poitschke continued. “It was only bad luck and we hope that in the next races he is without problems.”
