Two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard gave a 'thumbs-up' sign as he left hospital on Tuesday following a horrific crash in the Tour of the Basque Country.
The Danish Visma-Lease a Bike rider was hospitalised after suffering rib and collarbone fractures and sustaining lung damage in the shocking incident on 4 April.
His team, however, released two photographs of Vingegaard outside the hospital on Tuesday, showing him giving a thumbs-up with his left hand while his right arm remains in a sling with two fingers still bandaged.
"Hello everyone, it's time for me to leave the hospital," said Vingegaard in his message which went out on social media.
"I want to thank all the medical staff for taking so good care of me. And I want to thank everyone for their moral support. I have received lot of messages, presents and drawings. Heartwarming! Now it's time to fully recover again. Thumbs up!"
Good news! A message from Jonas 🍀❤️
— Team Visma | Lease a Bike (@vismaleaseabike) April 16, 2024
𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦, 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭. 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘧𝘧 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵… pic.twitter.com/5wI6Ot4uJR
Vingegaard, 27, who won the Tour de France in 2022 and 2023, is hoping to complete a hat-trick of victories this summer but the crash has put his participation in significant doubt.
Remco Evenepoel also broke his collarbone in the crash on stage four of the race in northern Spain, while Primoz Roglic, who was leading the race, also retired after the crash, although without sustaining any fractures.
Visma's other star rider Wout van Aert broke his collarbone and several ribs in a high-speed mass pile up during the Around Flanders one-day race in March.
As a result he will miss the Giro d'Italia.