Monster Energy Yamaha Factory Racing’s Romain Febvre is scheduled to undergo surgery on his severely broken right ankle after crashing heavily in race two of Argentina’s MXGP World Championship opener last weekend.

The former world champion was initially cleared of injury in Argentina, however after seeking a second opinion once returning to Belgium, it was determined he had damaged his talus in two places, requiring surgical repair.

A bitter blow for the Frenchman who was highly-competitive at the opening round, while it’s anticipated the injury will take at least six weeks to heal, ruling him out of round two later this month.

“Sad news today,” Febvre stated. “I broke the talus bone in my ankle. I feel really sad, not only for myself but for my entire team and all of the people involved. This is how it is – these things are part of our sport. Now I need to focus on getting it fixed with an operation next Tuesday, and then I can start my rehabilitation.

“I will try to be back on the bike as soon as possible, right now they are saying around six weeks more or less, but even when I get back on the bike I will have lost a lot of time and physical condition with no training. I will see when I am back on the bike how things are going and what I am focusing on, until then I can not say too much. The main goal is to get my foot fixed.”

Round two of the MXGP World Championship will take place at Matterley Basin in Great Britain on 24 March.