Steven Kruijswijk will continue Tour de France after finishing stage three with wounded hand

Steven Kruijswijk will continue the Tour de France after he was able to finish stage three with a wounded hand.

The Jumbo-Visma rider, who is supporting Primož Roglič in the 2021 Tour, was one of the dozens of riders caught in crashes on stage three, and was left with a cut to his hand.

Despite the shocking images of blood running down from his hand to his leg, Kruijswijk was able to finish the stage and was taken to hospital for checks.

The Dutchman received stitches in his right middle finger but Jumbo-Visma have confirmed he will continue the race on stage four. 

Dutch WorldTour squad Jumbo will be keen to put stage three from Lorient to Pontivy behind them, after crashes completely upended their strategy for the 2021 Tour.

Early in the day, their domestique Robert Gesink was involved in a crash with Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers), as Gesink was forced to abandon the race due to his injuries. 

Into the final 10km, more disaster struck for Jumbo with their chosen leader Roglič and Kruijswijk both crashing. 

Amid the chaos, Roglič lost more than a minute to his rivals by the finish, a significant blow to his general classification hopes. 

Roglič was checked by doctors after the stage and fortunately avoided any fractures, but suffered multiple cuts and grazes.

>>> Luke Rowe explains why he was handed fine on Tour de France stage three

The Slovenian said: “Today was not our best day. I’m covered in abrasions from head to toe. Fortunately, the medical examination showed that nothing is broken. Everything is still in one piece, so I will continue. Fortunately I can continue the Tour. 

“You don’t want anyone to lie on the ground. You train so hard for a certain goal. This bad luck cannot be calculated in. It is now a matter of getting through the next few days. We will continue to fight for it no matter what.”

He will start stage four.