Andre Greipel (Israel Startup Nation) underwent successful surgery on a broken shoulder he injured in a training crash near his hometown of Cologne last week.

The German, newly signed by the Israeli team for 2020, fractured the joint margin of his left shoulder and will not be active until May. The team reports that he will begin rehabilitation on Monday.

Greipel was out training with new teammate Rick Zabel last Tuesday.

"We drove single file down a little road as cars were coming our way. 'There was water and mud on the road and somehow I went off the surface and lost my balance. My front wheel slipped and I slid head and shoulders towards the rocks."

The 37-year-old sprinter had endured a tough campaign last year in France with Arkea-Samsic and had planned to start again with ISN in 2020; in October, he announced that he had agreed to terminate his contract with the team a season early.

Before signing with ISN in early November, rumors of his retirement and a possible partnership with Alpecin Phoenix's Mathieu van der Pol were also discussed.

During a team presentation in December, Greipel told Cycling News that joining the team was "an easy decision," that his ambition and motivation to race remained the same, and that he looked forward to working with Nils Pollitt in the spring classics.

Greipel's recovery schedule means he will miss the cobbled races he has excelled at in recent years.

Since joining ISN, Greipel has competed in the Tour Down Under, Race Torquay, and the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race, with his best result coming in fourth place on stage four of the Tour Down Under.

The team is off to a solid start in 2020, its first season at the World Tour level. Rudy Barbier took his first win of the season at the Vuelta a San Juan, and two more podium finishes. Meanwhile, Mikkel Reim (Herald Suntour), Itamar Einhorn, and Edwin Avila (both Tour Colombia 2.1) also made the podium respectively.