Riding for Dimension Data in the one-day classic Scheldeprijs on Wednesday, Renshaw hit the deck with 3.9 kilometres of the race remaining.

“Didn't even see it coming as it started on the other side of the road. Two crashes in two weeks is enough for me,” Renshaw, who also crashed in the Gent-Wevelgem eight days earlier, said.

“Wrong position and boom. Operation, two-week holiday with intensive physio coming up.”

After hitting the deck on the tricky cobbled section alongside fellow Dimension Data riders Youcef Reguigui and Jay Thomson, the noted sprinter was unable to continue to the finish line.

He went to hospital to get his injured ankle assessed and was given the bad news. Renshaw then headed to Cologne where team doctor Dirk Tenner will perform the necessary surgery.

“Mark Renshaw will undergo surgery because of a fractured Talus bone in his right ankle,” Tenner said on the team’s website.

“The surgery will be done in Cologne and Mark will spend two additional nights in hospital under observation before being able to return home. Without any complications, we expect that Mark will be able to start training in two weeks.”

Renshaw had gone into the race as Dimension Data’s protected rider, the absence of team-mate Mark Cavendish giving him the status of lead sprinter.

He and his team-mates worked well together and with 10km to go, Dimension Data were positioned at the front of the peloton for the looming sprint finish.

But a crash at the front of the bunch ended Renshaw’s chances.

His team-mate Janse van Rensburg did salvage something for the team as he got back on the front for the dash to the line and placed seventh.

“It turned out to be a pretty straight forward Scheldeprijs this year, but unfortunately there was a crash at four kilometres to go which took out Youcef, Jay and our protected rider Mark Renshaw,” van Rensburg said.

“The plan changed so that I would sprint. I managed to get myself into a pretty good position, but I made a mistake at one kilometre to go and that cost me some crucial positions. I had to start my sprint from very far back. I had really good legs in the sprint but I am very disappointed that I wasn’t in a better position as I felt more was possible for me.”