Katusha racer Denis Galimzyanov has been diagnosed with small kidney lacerations after a fall on the second stage of the Circuit Cycliste Sarthe event in France earlier this month.
The Russian, 25, was originally told by doctors he had broken a rib in the crash, which ruled him out of the rest of the event.
"The fall was pretty bad," Galimzyanov wrote in a blog for RIA Novosti. "Everything hurt. ... I couldn't name the concrete source of the pain. We immediately went to the hospital ... and the doctor diagnosed broken ribs, but no breaks were found."
Wryly, Galimzyanov wrote "that was the good news."
"The bad new was that two micro tears of the left kidney were found. Of course, this is a serious injury. ...Recovery can take a long time."
His accident came a day after he won the start stage of the race, his first win this season after second places at the Tour of Qatar and the Tour of Oman.
The specialist sprinter has been with the Russian Team Katusha since 2009 and has 17 career stage wins.
