Heading into the French Grand Prix weekend in Le Mans, Marquez already had a significant gap to championship leader Marco Bezzecchi, but a massive high-side during the sprint race forced him to withdraw from the race on Sunday.

While trying to save the crash, Marquez fractured the fifth metatarsal of his right foot, forcing Ducati to withdraw him from next weekend's Catalan Grand Prix as well - a blow that will be particularly painful considering it is his home race.

However, things are not all as bad as they might seem. Marc revealed after the incident that he had been scheduled to undergo surgery already after Barcelona in order to address an ongoing shoulder injury and remove a loose screw which had been causing him trouble throughout the year. Ducati later confirmed that he also had two screws and a bone fragment removed from a previous Latarjet dating back to 2019.

The end result is that, while Marc will be sidelined for at least another round, the overall recovery process for both injuries should enable him to return to a higher performance than we have seen from him so far in 2026.

At present, Marquez is already back at home recovering after the emergency surgery was performed on the day of the French Grand Prix. The nine-time world champion posted the following to his instagram:

"The surgery was a success! I’m truly grateful for your kind messages and support. A special thanks to the medical team for their incredible work."

Ducati confirmed in an official statement that Marquez's double surgery was a success, meaning that no further operations will be required in the immediate future. After a poor start to the 2026 season, losing their star rider and reigning world champion was the last thing the Italian team wanted. Read the full statement from Ducati here.