"It's a miracle that Gilbert has reached the finish"

Toon Cruyt was still optimistic when Philippe Gilbert visited the Bagnères-de-Luchon medical post. " We are just going to sew the wound ," said the team doctor. " I do not think anything is broken. " After the first problems, the atmosphere had changed. Gilbert's knee was very swollen, the runner could barely walk. " It is a miracle that Phil reached the finish line. "

Gilbert obtained at the end of the sixteenth stage the price of fighting spirit and went himself on the podium. He also drove to the team bus. Once there, he got on the bus himself before being overwhelmed by emotion. " I just saw the pictures, it's terrible, I was lucky ," said the Belgian before bursting into tears.

Once the adrenaline gone, the pain intensified. " He can no longer walk on his leg ," said Toon Cruyts team doctor. " When he rolled, it was still sustainable, but now, after half an hour in the medical post where he lay down, the knee began to swell strongly." He suffers too much bleeding knee, muscles and ligament are affected, there is nothing broken, but for safety we will do an MRI at the hospital, but the chance it starts tomorrow is 0.0 percent He can not even walk, it is not normal. "

" It is a miracle that he reached the finish line ", finished the doctor of the team. " He was in a lot of pain, you could see him when he crossed the line, he had to bite down on his quid, he's a tough guy but his Tour is over, I do not think it's likely to start tomorrow "

Gilbert also briefly spoke. " I can not use my leg anymore," he explained just before entering the ambulance. " We are now going to the hospital to do further examinations, to find out what's going on … My Tour is over, yes. "

Tour boss Christian Prudhomme wanted to visit ambulance to Gilbert before his departure to the hospital and wished him a lot of courage.