BRUSSELS — World champion Julian Alaphilippe underwent successful surgery on his right hand Monday following his season-ending crash at the Tour of Flanders one-day classic race.
The Frenchman broke two bones in the hand after hitting a motorbike about 20 miles from the finish Sunday.
Alaphilippe was part of a three-man breakaway, and the incident left Dutch rider Mathieu van der Poel to edge Belgium’s Wout van Aert in a sprint for the win.
“Everything went well for the world champion,” Alaphilippe’s team, Deceuninck Quick-Step, said of the procedure.
Alaphilippe will be able to resume training in three weeks when the cast protecting his hand will be removed, the Belgian squad said.
“The crash was a scary moment, and when I found myself on the ground, I thought of the worse,” Alaphilippe said. “Fortunately, it’s not that bad.”