Watch all the best , with the Tour de France, Tour de France Femmes and much more.
Pogačar was the overwhelming favourite to take out the 2023 edition of the Belgian one-day classic, but his hopes of completing the Ardennes Classics triple came crashing down after he was caught up in a collision with Mikkel Honoré (EF Education-EasyPost) on a descent less than halfway into the 258km race.
Fresh off his victories at Amstel Gold and Flèche Wallonne this month, the Slovenian was forced to abandon Liège-Bastogne-Liège after fracturing his wrist during the incident, and was transported to hospital to undergo immediate surgery in Genk.
His team confirmed in a medical update that he had sustained two fractures to his left scaphoid and lunate bones.
However, only the scaphoid fracture required surgery, meaning the treatment would allow Pogacar to travel home to continue his recovery on Monday.
"The surgery on Tadej Pogačar's scaphoid was successful, and he will travel home tomorrow for recovery and rehabilitation," said Dr. Adrian Rotunno, Medical Director of UAE Team Emirates.
Although Pogacar managed to avoid serious injury from the crash, there were initial fears surrounding the extent of the 24-year-old's injuries as he was forced to climb into the team's support vehicle before being taken to hospital.
UAE Team Emirates has not confirmed Pogačar's recovery time or when he might be recovered enough to return to training or competition, but team manager Mauro Gianetti remained optimistic amid the Slovenian's next goal to win the Tour de France in July after a period of rest.
“It’s too soon to say [when he will recover]. Probably we’ll have more information after the surgery, and we’ll see how it goes," he said.
"As it’s multiple bones to fix, it’s a more complicated operation. So we’re crossing our fingers it will all be ok, and he’ll be able to recover very fast.”
