Following a heavy crash in the final kilometres of Thursday’s stage 3 at the AlUla Tour, Nils Eekhoff has been ruled out of action for six to eight weeks with a jaw fracture.
The Dutch rider was part of Picnic-PostNL’s lead-out train for sprinter Fabio Jakobsen before going down during a hectic run-in to Tayma Fort at the Saudi Arabian stage race.
Racing in the front group after a split in the peloton in the desert crosswinds, Eekhoff was forced to take evasive action due to a crash in front of him. He couldn’t stay on the road as a result and was left with nowhere to go as he ran onto the pavement, hitting a lamppost in the process.
The stage continued onwards to a sprint finish, where Tim Merlier (Soudal-QuickStep) beat Dylan Groenewegen (Jayco-AlUla) to the line. Meanwhile, Eekhoff was taken to hospital by ambulance.
“After a rider went down in front of him, Nils had to swerve and headed towards the raised pavement,” Picnic-PostNL announced in a team statement. “Trying to unclip and stop himself, he unfortunately had nowhere to go and came off his bike with impact.
“Immediately treated by race medical staff, Nils was taken to hospital, where he underwent further examinations.”
Picnic-PostNL team doctor Camiel Aldershof gave an update to Eekhoff’s injuries, which will now keep him off the bike for two months.
“Nils sustained a heavy impact in the crash, and he has broken one tooth and has a fracture in his jaw,” Aldershof said.
“For now, he has been cleared and discharged by the local hospital, but when he returns to the Netherlands, we will conduct further assessments on him here with our specialists to explore whether any surgery is needed.
“Due to the nature of his injuries, we estimate that he will be off the bike for six to eight weeks, but of course, this can all change depending on those additional assessments.”
Picnic-PostNL continue in the AlUla Tour with Frank van den Broek battling for the GC in seventh place at 48 seconds down on race leader Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers). Fastmen Fabio Jakobsen and John Degenkolb should be in contention on the final stage to the AlUla Camel Cup Track on Saturday.
