Arnaud De Lie (Lotto Dstny) suffered multiple injuries in a high-speed crash in the final metres of stage 1 of the 4 Jours de Dunkerque on Tuesday.
The Belgian crashed along with Enzo Boulet (CIC U Nantes Atlantique), and both fell heavily in the middle of the sprinting peloton.
Lotto Dstny announced that De Lie had been diagnosed with a fracture to his sternum along with a broken rib, a collapsed lung and a broken left collarbone.
Aaron Van Poucke (Flanders Baloise), James Oram (Bolton Equities Black Spoke), Astana’s Gleb Syritsa, Yuriy Natarov and Cees Bol were all awarded with the same time as winner Olav Kooij (Jumbo-Visma) in various incidents in the hectic finale of the 197-kilometre stage from Dunkerque to Abbeville.
De Lie was Lotto Dstny’s top scorer in 2022 and was on track to replicate his successful debut season with the team. He won the Clàssica Comunitat Valenciana 1969, two stages and the points classification in the Etoile de Bességes, scored podiums in the Clasica de Almeria and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and, more recently, won the Grand Prix du Morbihan and was second in Tro-Bro Léon.
