Pozzovivo: My career can't end like this

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Domenico Pozzovivo (Bahrain-Merida) has been transferred from a hospital in Cosenza to Lugano on Wednesday. The Italian was hit by the driver of a car on Monday while training in Cosenza in southern Italy. He has undergone initial surgery to stabilize a lower leg fracture but will require additional surgery to correct a complex fracture in his left elbow.

Pozzovivo initially believed that his cycling career was over but after being transferred to Lugano, near his home in Switzerland, he has taken a more positive view of his recovery. "I was so scared, but now I think my career can't end like this. You will see that I will succeed," said according to Italian media.

Pozzovivo described being fully conscious after the wreck to La Gazzetta dello Sport and recalling how it happend.

"Our eyes met a moment before the crash. I realized the impact was inevitable and I just thought I wouldn't hit my head," Pozzovivo said.

"I'm starting to see a positive outcome, but until recently I was in so much pain that I couldn't even speak. Now it's better, the only concern is for the left arm because I lost a lot of bone."

He said the driver did not see him until too late, and after the crash he did not want to look at his body for fear of what he'd see. "The boy was shaken. He feared for me and for himself. But I looked at him and said, 'Look what you've done! You ruined me. You've ended my career.'"

In a report on Tuttobici, Pozzovivo's wife, Valentina, confirmed that the driver of the vehicle who hit Pozzovivo was a 19-year-old male. Italian police are investigating the incident.

"Domenico was [riding] uphill on a beautiful day, with full visibility," she said. "He found himself facing, on his side of the road, a boy who was driving [on the wrong side of the road]. This boy is 19 and a novice driver. It must be acknowledged that he called for help and took responsibility for the accident."

Pozzovivo was riding through the hamlet of Laurignano when he was hit by the driver of a Fiat Grande Punto at a crossroads, according to initial reports. After being stabilised on the scene by paramedics, he was taken to a hospital in Cosenza. 

He was conscious and in stable condition in the intensive care unit but X-rays showed multiple fractures in his leg, upper and lower arms and collarbone, including compound fractures to the tibia bone in his lower right leg and the humerus bone in his upper right arm. He also has several suspected fractured ribs and a bruised lung. He also needed several stitches in a facial wound on his forehead.