World time trial champion Tony Martin will continue in the 2012 Tour de France despite fracturing his wrist as a result of a crash on Sunday's opening road stage.
Martin tangled with Garmin-Sharp's Robbie Hunter during stage one from Liege to Seraing, falling heavily on his left side. He was taken to hospital for X-rays at the stage finish to assess the injury, which was diagnosed as a fractured scaphoid bone.
Martin's Omega Pharma-QuickStep team issued a statement on Monday morning ahead of stage two saying that Martin has been fitted with a plastic cast on the affected wrist and will continue in the race.
"We will take it step by step, kilometre by kilometre," Martin said in the statement.
"The first objective is to try and arrive to the next time trial on next Monday. I know it won't be easy, it will be painful, but I really want to try. The Tour de France is really important for me and I don't want to give up without trying."
Aside from his aims at the Tour, Martin is also aiming to fight for gold in the Olympic Games time trial in August. This latest injury throws that into doubt, particularly as he has only just recovered from his injuries after being hit by a car during a training ride in April that saw him fracture his arm, cheekbone and shoulder blade.
Martin's team-mate Jerome Pineau also crashed on stage one and like Martin was taken to hospital for X-rays. No fracture was found, and Pineau will also continue in the race.
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