Jonas Vingegaard leaves hospital 12 days after Basque Country crash

Jonas Vingegaard (Visma-Lease a Bike) has been discharged from hospital, 12 days on from his serious crash at the Itzulia Basque Country race.

The winner of the past two editions of the Tour de France was pictured outside the hospital in Vitoria in northern Spain, posing with a thumb up alongside a written message via his team.

Read more: Jay Vine walking, Vingegaard and Evenepoel operated upon

"Hello everyone, it's time for me to leave the hospital. I want to thank all the medical staff for taking so good care of me," Vingegaard said.

"And I want to thank everyone for their moral support. I have received a lot of messages, presents, and drawings. Heartwarming!

"Now it's time to fully recover again. Thumbs up!!"

Vingegaard was rushed to hospital on 4 April after remaining stricken on the ground for nearly half an hour following the mass crash on a treacherous descent of stage 4 of the Basque Country race, which he won last year.

He was diagnosed with a broken collarbone, several broken ribs, a collapsed lung, and a contusion to that lung.

Read more: Richard Plugge says it's 'too early' to think about Jonas Vingegaard and Tour de France

Last Tuesday, seven days ago, his team confirmed that he had undergone successful surgery on that collarbone, and his arm remains in a sling as he leaves hospital and heads for home.

The broken ribs were the cause of the collapsed lung, which was the reason Vingegaard had to endure such a long stint in hospital; it is not deemed safe to fly with a pneumothorax, unless in an air ambulance, which is considered an extreme measure.

It is not clear if Vingegaard has received the all-clear to fly home, or whether he is simply stable enough to be transported via land. It is also unclear whether he's returning to his native Denmark, or to Switzerland, where he is said to own a second property.

Even more unclear are his prospects of targeting a third Tour de France title, with Visma-Lease a Bike not mentioning any sort of recovery timeframe.

The team have issued limited updates on his condition, and any sporting considerations had been swept aside as the toll of the injuries became established and his condition was taken under control.

With Vingegaard out of hospital and on two feet, thoughts will naturally turn to when we might see him in action again. A team director has already indicated he will have to miss the team's May altitude training camp in Sierra Nevada, a key building block for the Tour. His presence in July, then, remains up in the air for the time being.