Team Giant-Shimano's John Degenkolb is currently in a Frankfurt hospital in order to treat the wounds incurred in his stage seven crash at the 2014 Vuelta a España. The wounds and soft tissues have become infected as a result of insufficient treatment during the Vuelta combined with the stressful conditions his body was exposed to as a result of continuing in the Vuelta following the crash.

Germany's Degenkolb crashed early in stage seven. Despite suffering from a large amount of road rash Degenkolb impressively managed to complete the stage. Despite his injuries, Degenkolb was able to carry on in the Vuelta and won two additional stages as well as the green points jersey. Following the Vuelta, however, an infection in one of his wounds worsened and under the guidance of the Team Giant-Shimano medical experts he was admitted to a hospital in Germany.

"After the race my lymph nodes swelled up to table tennis ball size and then I could barely walk with the pain. It turns out one of the abrasions was deeper than we thought. A combination of the workload at the Vuelta and the inhibited healing of the skin led to inflammation," Degenkolb explained to Roadcycling.com.

"I tortured myself through the final stages in order not to lose the green jersey, then at night I got chills and fevers and was admitted to hospital after my flight home."

"John has been hospitalized to be treated with intravenous antibiotics after one of the wounds he sustained early in the Vuelta became infected," Team Giant-Shimano medical expert Anko Boelens explained and added "The healing process was going as expected until the morning of the penultimate stage when one of the almost-healed wounds became painful again."

"Since regular antibiotics were no longer having an effect, John was hospitalized. We expect him to be out in the next two days. He is already feeling a lot better and the intravenous antibiotics are having the desired effect."

Degenkolb is grateful for the treatment he's received in the hospital and is hoping to be able to take part in the road race of the 2014 UCI World Championships later this month.

"Thanks to the public hospital in Frankfurt and its nurses and doctors I feel in good hands here. I will stay here under observation for a few more days, but I keep my goal - the World Championships - in mind."

The infection means that Degenkolb will unfortunately miss out on the World Championships Team Time Trial this Sunday, which he was originally planned to compete in for his Giant - Shimano team.