Luck was not on the side of the Team Picnic PostNL at the Tour of Flanders: a crash involved John Degenkolb, Tim Naberman and Alex Edmonson and all of them suffered serious consequences.

With 126 kilometers to go, a rider went down and the three team members could not avoid him. Withdrawal and hospital trip for all three with truly serious diagnoses: Degenkolb fractured his collarbone, elbow and wrist; in turn, Naberman fractured his wrist, while Edmondson has an ankle sprain.

Team Picnic PostNL doctor Camiel Aldershof stated: "John hit the ground with great force in the accident; and the medical team immediately suspected a collarbone fracture. He was transferred to the local hospital where further checks and x-rays were conducted. These unfortunately confirmed that John did indeed fracture his collarbone, along with his wrist and elbow on the same side. He will undergo wrist surgery, before a recovery period. Timelines can often change, but we anticipate that he will be out of competitions for two months. At the moment, Tim Nabesman does not need surgery, but we will do another check and visit him next week to see if the situation changes, but obviously he will also be out of races while recovering. Alex will rest his ankle and we'll see how he progresses over the next week."