Deceuninck-QuickStep's Mikel Honoré broke three vertebrae in a crash at the Drôme Classic in southern France on Sunday and will be out for several weeks.

The 23-year-old Dane had finished seventh in the Ardèche Classic the day before and was looking forward to using this form for the Belgian team's spring campaign.

"It's a shame because just when I was feeling good and looking forward to the upcoming races," Honoré told the Deceuninck-QuickStep website. I will work patiently on my recovery so that I can get stronger as soon as possible."

According to the team's medical staff, Honoré will need at least two weeks of complete rest before resuming training.

NTT Pro Cycling's Giacomo Nizzolo is looking for his second win of the season after taking a stage win at the Tour Down Under in January and will lead the team in the Belgian one-day race, Le Samin, on Tuesday.

The experienced Michal Gogl will serve as road captain, with Nizzolo at the helm of the team, ready to bring home the win.

"We saw a very strong Giacomo at the Kuhne Brussel Kuhne (Sunday).

"There were five of us in that first group, so we want to use that experience to be aggressive in Le Samyn. The course should suit us and we should give it our all to win," said the Austrian.

AG2R La Mondiale's Alexis Vuillermoz will return to racing later this month for the first time since last year's Tour de France.

The Frenchman suffered a broken kneecap in a post-Tour training crash last August, and according to L'Equipe, Vuillermoz will make his return at the Volta a Catalunya, which runs from March 23 to 29.