Team Bahrain McLaren’s cyclist Rafael Valls has withdrawn from Tour de France after fracturing his right femur in a crash during the opening stage on Saturday.
His Majesty’s representative for humanitarian work and youth affairs and Supreme Council for Youth and Sport chairman Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad Al Khalifa wished Valls a speedy recovery.
He hoped Valls would swiftly regain his strength, stating that the Spanish professional road bicycle racer is one of the best members of Team Bahrain McLaren.
“Unfortunately, Rafa Valls has withdrawn from Tour de France after fracturing his right femur in a crash during the opening stage,” Team Bahrain McLaren said in a statement.
“All eight riders fought successfully through most of today’s stage, despite the adverse weather conditions. However, Rafa was caught up in a highspeed crash on the Promenade des Anglais with just 3km to the finish line.”
Rafa was taken to hospital and has undergone surgery on his fractured femur, plus treatment for superficial wounds he sustained on his right shoulder, elbow and knee, confirmed Team Doctor Carlo Guardascion.
- There was more bad news for Team Bahrain McLaren as Wout Poels confirmed that he had also sustained injuries in the dramatic finish to the first stage of the Tour in Nice. However, he continued to race yesterday with a fractured rib and bruised lung. "Pretty hectic start to le tour yesterday!" Poels wrote in a post on his personal Instagram account yesterday. "Managed to dodge the crashes until 2.9km. Pretty sore but hope to come back fighting. Fracture to the rib and few bruises to the lung, so let’s see how we get on today."
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