Belgian cyclist Remco Evenepoel was flown home from Italy on Monday to continue his recovery from a fractured pelvis suffered in his spectacular season-ending Tour of Lombardy crash.
Despite facing weeks flat on his back convalescing the 20-year-old had an upbeat message for his fans after his transferral to a hospital in Herentals.
"Hi everyone, I just want say I'm doing very well for the moment," he said in a video posted on his Deceuninck-QuickStep team's twitter feed.
Evenepoel started Saturday's one-day classic as the big favourite after four stage-race wins this year.
But his bid to climb the Lombardy podium ended dramatically when he lost control on the steep descent from the Colma di Sormano that leads to the finish at Lake Como, hitting a bridge wall and plunging six metres into a ravine.
His team doctor Yvan Vanmol told Belgian's RTBF that "recovery from a fractured pelvis will obviously take a lot of time.
"We suppose six weeks of total rest, resting flat on the bed, with another few weeks on top of that before he can start cycling again."
"For the moment we don't believe an operation will be necessary," added Vanmol.AFP, foto-FGphotographic, Wikimedia commons.