Double Olympic champion Remco Evenepoel was taken to hospital after sustaining rib, shoulder blade and hand fractures in a bike crash during a training ride.
According to Belgian media reports, the 24-year-old crashed into an open door of a postal vehicle while he was on a ride in Oetingen, Belgium.
Evenepoel, who claimed gold in the men’s road race and time trial at this year’s Olympics in Paris, was conscious after the incident.
However, there was a clean break to the frame of the 2022 Vuelta a Espana winner’s golden bike.
Soudal-Quick Step manager Patrick Lefevere told Belgium’s state-funded sports website Sporza on Tuesday: “His bike broke in two in that incident, but it’s better to split his bike in two than his arm.”
In an update to Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad, Evenepoel’s father Patrick said: “He has already sent us a message, so we hope everything is okay.”
Soudal-Quick Step later confirmed: “Following an incident while training today, Remco Evenepoel was taken to hospital where it was revealed that he has sustained fractures to his rib, right shoulder blade and his right hand.”
In 2020, Evenepoel fractured his pelvis in a horrific crash off a bridge at Il Lombardia.
He returned from that incident to claim his maiden Grand Tour win at the 2022 Vuelta a Espana, before the three-time world champion finished third at his first Tour de France this year.