Visma rider Vingegaard broke his collerbone and several ribs, and also damaged his lung when he fell in a descent during the Basque Country stage race.

He was taken to hospital in Vitoria but Vingegaard said on Tuesday in a message distributed by his team that "it's time for me to leave the hospital.

"I want to thank all the medical staff for taking so good care of me. And I want to thank everyone for their moral support."

"Now it's time to fully recover again. Thumbs up!" he said on X, formerly Twitter.

Neither Visma nor Vingegaard said when he will be able to return to competition. This year's Tour de France starts on June 29.

Vingegaard was among several riders who have crashed in recent races, and Germany's John Degenkolb said on Tuesday that measures were needed to make the sport safer again.

"We should definitely talk about this issue and think about whether things need to be changed. The races are getting faster, tighter and more aggressive," Degenkolb said in Frankfurt.

Degenkolb proposed round table talks: "The world governing body, the race organisers, teams and riders should sit down together and draw up statutes to make the races safer."

Australian Associated Press