Joaquim Rodriguez to miss Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège?

Katusha’s Joaquim Rodriguez is in doubt for Wednesday’s Flèche Wallonne, where he is defending champion, as well as Sunday’s Liège-Bastogne-Liège, following his crash yesterday during the Amstel Gold Race.

The 33-year-old was among several riders to come down in a crash with a little under 50 kilometres to go during yesterday’s race, which was won by Saxo-Tinkoff’s Roman Kreuziger.

In a statement issued yesterday evening, his Katusha team said that Rodriguez, who finished the 2012 season on top of the UCI WorldTour ranking, had been treated at hospital in Maastricht.

“The scan showed a strong contusion at the left femoral biceps: during the next days the team’s doctors will decide the recovery time of ‘Purito’ [his nickname], in order to understand if he’s going to take part to the other Ardennes classic races,” it said.

With the finale of Amstel Gold changed this year to add a 1.8 kilometre flat section at the top of the Cauberg climb, he was not among the top favourites for that race, but he is viewed as one of the men most likely to win in the Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège, both of which feature tougher uphill finishes.