Philippe Gilbert absent de la Flèche et de la Doyenne !

C'est une grosse surprise et une énorme déception pour ses nombreux supporters qui se réjouissaient de le voir sur les routes de nos Ardennes : Philippe Gilbert renonce à la Flèche Wallonne et à Liège-Bastogne-Liège sur blessure. Il se ressent en fait de la chute qu'il a subie hier à l'Amstel Gold Race qu'il a malgré tout brillamment remportée.

Après l'arrivée, le Remoucastrien a passé une visite à l'hôpital. De prime abord, rien de grave si ce ne sont des douleurs au dos qui le tiendront éloigné du vélo durant une semaine, LA semaine Philippe Gilbert !

Voici le communiqué de son équipe

"The 2011 winner of Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège will not line out for this year's edition of the two races.

Winner of Amstel Gold Race, where he made history with his victory, Philippe Gilbert will stop his Spring Classics campaign as consequence of his crash on Sunday's race. Following the victory ceremony and the press conference, the Belgian Champion went to the hospital for medical examinations, as he still felt pain on his right side, consequence of the crash in which he was involved during the race.

At the hospital, where he was joined by the Quick-Step Floors doctor, he was diagnosed with a minor right kidney tear, which requires a week of complete recovery, meaning that Philippe will be forced to skip Flèche Wallonne and Liège–Bastogne–Liège.

"When I crashed, I felt pain, but once I remounted and continued the race things became better and better and the pain disappeared. Unfortunately, after the finish, the lower back pain returned, so together with the team doctor I decided to go to the hospital for a check-up. Fortunately, it's nothing serious, and if everything goes well, in a week I will start training again", said the 34-year-old.

The third rider in history to win Ronde van Vlaanderen and Amstel Gold Race in the same season, Philippe made an analysis of his successful Spring Campaign: "It's one of my best years and looking behind on what I achieved makes me very happy. To be competitive in both the cobbled and the Ardennes Classics and to help the team be the best in the world brings me a lot of satisfaction. It's sad I won't be there for the remaining races of this week, because I was in great condition, but our squad is a strong one and I'm confident other good results will follow."

Philippe Gilbert will remain under observation at the hospital for a further 24 hours, before getting the green light from the doctors to go home".