Jumbo-Visma hope Primož Roglič's crash at the Critérium du Dauphiné won't disrupt his preparation for the Tour de France, while they wait to see how Steven Kruijswijk's condition develops over the coming days.
"He fell hard on his hip and we just want to see how he responds to that," team boss Richard Plugge said of Roglič's condition before the start of stage five, which his rider did not start. "It’s better safe than sorry. He was dizzy, but that was more the result of hitting the deck really hard and he was more like, ‘what happened?’ But after a couple of minutes he was mentally okay. There are no worries about a concussion."
While Plugge says we won't see Roglič out training today, like how Ineos' Egan Bernal was spotted out riding after abandoning the race the day before, he seems confident that Roglič will be fully healed and ready for the Tour start in Nice in a fortnight. "I don’t think it’s going to disrupt Primož’s Tour preparation, I certainly hope not."
"I think Primoz will be okay," Sepp Kuss added. "We have to be careful, you can still hurt yourself if you're racing with an injury. But I think he came out better than we thought and then with Stevie we're waiting to see with the final checks.
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"I think for [Roglič] it was more the pain afterwards, he probably had a lot of adrenaline and everything during [the stage]. To me, he still seemed really comfortable after the crash and he was doing fine," Kuss said.
It was a sobering day for the Dutch squad who had dominated the Dauphiné over the first three days, taking two stage wins and holding the yellow and green jerseys.
Their luck changed on stage four, however, as Kruijswijk crashed out alongside Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-Hansgrohe) on the descent of the first climb of the day, with the road condition described as "disgraceful" by Tom Dumoulin.
"He’s back home now in Monaco," Plugge said of Kruijswijk. "He had a dislocated shoulder and a lot of road rash. The shoulder is back in, but the road rash is really severe.
"Hopefully it will heal very fast. It’s premature to say anything because we have to see how it goes tomorrow and the day after. These are the decisive days when it comes to seeing how he evolves from the first wounds of the crash."
Between stage four of the Dauphiné and Il Lombardia, it was a day marred by crashes. In Italy, Evenepoel crashed over the side of a bridge while a car drove onto the course and collided with Max Schachmann (Bora-Hansgrohe). Plugge says safety concerns aren't usually associated with ASO races, but that crashes have become too commonplace in the sport today.
"I think Grischa [Niermann, Jumbo-Visma coach] said something to ASO," Plugge explained. "Normally ASO have their act really together, safety-wise. ASO, the Dauphiné and the Tour de France are very good. On the other hand, this happens too often in racing nowadays. I think it’s time to put safety in professional hands."
Despite the disappointing end to the week, Plugge says the Dauphiné has gone well, with his team looking well-placed to break Ineos' strangehold on the Tour de France.
"We learned a lot and we practiced a lot here, and it’s being interesting to see as well how our competitors are getting on. We’ve learned some good lessons here."
