Magnus Cort will continue in the Tour de France with a broken finger he suffered in a crash on stage four.
The Dane was caught in a fall with his Astana team-mate Gorka Izagirre half way through the stage to Nancy, with X-rays later revealing he had broken a bone in his finger.
Both riders finished the stage and were able to start on day five, but Cort was seen riding with his finger supported by a splint.
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The 26-year-old said after stage four: “It wasn’t a very hectic day, the moments before the crash there was no stress in the peloton.
“But then out of nowhere somebody crashed and I wasn’t able to avoid him, so I crashed while almost standing still.
“In the end I have a small fracture in one of my fingers, but it shouldn’t be a problem. Of course it’s never nice to crash and it will be a bit harder to brake, but I’m confident about continuing the race in the way I was planning to.”
Astana leader Jakob Fuglsang, who suffered a nasty cut in his own crash on stage one, said: “It was a good day for me, I felt even better than yesterday.
“Luckily, I was able to avoid a crash, but Magnus Cort who was riding behind me did crash. I hope his injury will have no influence on his performance in the upcoming weeks."
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There have been plenty of crashes so far in the Tour de France 2019, including Fuglsang’s fall which happened when Bahrain-Merida’s Damiano Caruso hit the floor in front of the Dane.
A Cofidis rider was also caught out on stage four when he hit a bollard at full speed and was thrown over the handlebars.
Despite the crashes, all riders have made it through the first four stages.
