Marco Bezzecchi
Marc Marquez has stated that he will be undergoing surgery after suffering a foot injury during the Sprint at the French Grand Prix.
On Saturday, the 2026 MotoGP season continued with the Sprint at the French Grand Prix, taking place around the Bugatti Circuit at Le Mans.
During the 13-lap event, there were multiple incidents, with the likes of Franco Morbidelli, Enea Bastianini and Jonas Folger all crashing out.
The biggest accident of the Sprint involved Marquez, who highsided at Turn 13 as he looked to stay on the back of Honda rider, Luca Marini.
Marquez was seen limping away from the accident and was later sent to the medical centre for checks. It was then confirmed that the Spaniard will miss the remainder of the French Grand Prix weekend, as well as next week’s race in Barcelona.
In the end, Aprilia star Jorge Martin took the chequered flag first ahead of Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia and Marco Bezzecchi.
Is Marc Marquez’s title defence over after his injury from the Le Mans Sprint?
Marc Marquez confirms he’ll undergo another shoulder surgery after Le Mans crash
After the event, all the attention quickly shifted to Marquez and his well-being.
Speaking to DAZN Espana after the Sprint, Marquez confirmed that he already had a surgery planned for after next weekend’s race.
He said: “Well, that was one of the reasons I was taking it easy this weekend. I was bound to have a crash at any moment, and this has resulted in me breaking my fifth metacarpal.
“I already had surgery scheduled after Catalunya for my right shoulder. Because, well, this season I’m having more problems than usual. You could see it; I tried to convince myself otherwise, but after Jerez I realised something wasn’t working, that something wasn’t right.
“We went to the doctors and, well, they could see that after the crash in Indonesia, everything is fine, but that famous screw that was broken in my shoulder, in the scapula, is now in a different position. I had a very strange feeling because at home I was fine, I’d come here and things would go wrong.
“So I thought I was mentally blocked, I get blocked. But they saw that in the screw, which is in a different position, was touching my radial nerve and, well, that’s what makes me make mistakes, makes me inconsistent, causes me to have unexpected crashes.
“That’s why I was very calm all weekend, so, well, we’ll do it all in one go. I need to recover properly and from there try to keep up the momentum of building my future.”
Back in October 2025, Marquez went under the knife to treat a coracoid fracture and ligament damage in his right shoulder after he was taken out at the Indonesian Grand Prix by Bezzecchi.
Who was your rider of the French Grand Prix Sprint race?
Michael Laverty says Marc Marquez is a ‘shadow’ of his former self
Reacting to Marquez’s big crash, Laverty questions whether Marquez is lacking the physicality to fight his bike and claimed that the Spaniard is a shadow of his former self.
Laverty said on TNT Sports: “Yeah, Marc has always astounded us, but I don’t know why at the moment it just feels reminiscent of the year at Repsol, when he decided to call it a day to get things right.
“In terms of his rehab and recovery of his arm, look, he is limping, he is feeling it, he hasn’t given the full extent of how much he is struggling.
“He’s said it’s me physically that is not being able to force this bike right now, and you see things like that, maybe he is lacking a bit of strength to fight it when it locks.
“He hasn’t been in front of his bike as he has been in the past; fingers crossed, he can turn it around. We want to see Marc back to how he delivered that title last year. At the moment, he is a shadow of his former self.”
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