Fabian Cancellara refused to be drawn on whether or not he’s raced his final Tour after withdrawing from the race before the fourth stage.
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Cancellara became the sixth victim of the mass crash, which also saw the likes Tom Dumoulin and Simon Gerrans retire with serious injuries.
The Swiss veteran was forced to pull out after X-rays revealed he had suffered two fractures in his lower back, claiming he woke up yesterday feeling, “like a truck had run over me”.
With his Trek contract expiring at the end of 2016, the rider known as ‘Spartacus’ is expected to also retire from the sport, but he refused to confirm or deny if he’ll be back again at the Tour de France next year.
He said: “Right now cycling and being the yellow jersey isn’t important to me, what’s important is that I’m a person who wants to get home to his wife and family.”
One day you win one day you lose but i will not give up on what happen #spartacus @TrekFactory thanks for all your messages and coments
— Fabian cancellara (@f_cancellara) July 7, 2015
Cancellara has spent 29 days wearing the yellow jersey – a record for a rider who has never won the race – and made his debut in 2004.
Trek Factory Racing manager Luca Guercilena admitted Cancellara is unlikely to want to leave the race for good on such a low.
“It’s certainly not the way he’d want to say goodbye to such a big race,” he said. “We’ll see next year.”
Meanwhile, Orica Green-Edge’s Michael Matthews, who was also caught up in Monday’s crash, has vowed to battle on despite minor contusions to his ribs.
Matthews said: “I’m a bit sore. A lot of riders hit me at about 70 kilometres per hour into my ribs and my back. Hopefully in the next couple of days it’ll be okay.”
