Millar breaks collarbone in race crash

David Millar fractured his right collarbone yesterday after being involved in a crash in Belgium’s E3 Harelbeke race.

“We stopped in the car, I got out and saw him standing there,” said team Garmin’s sports director, Allan Peiper, after Millar went off the side of the road with 70 kilometres to race.

“He said, ‘I think it’s broken.’ I said, ‘You really think so?’ And he replied, ‘Yeah, I’m pretty sure.’ It looked a bit out of whack as well.”

Jan Ghyselinck (Cofidis) also has a suspected fractured collarbone. Both he and Millar were part of a crash with Yukiya Arashiro (Europcar), Jelle Vanendert (Lotto-Belisol), Jens Mouris (GreenEdge) and Sébastien Hinault (Ag2r).

It means an end to Millar’s classics campaign – the Scot had been hoping to help his team captain Sep Vanmarcke through the northern races, including next Sunday’s Tour of Flanders.

When told of the news, Vanmarcke told Cycling Weekly: “What? Really? I didn’t know! It will hurt because he’s really strong. Plus, we’ve already lost Ramunas [Navardauskas] for the classics. It only makes the team weaker. It really is a pity. He was really motivated for the Classics and in form as well.”