Italy's Marta Bastianelli (Image credit: Davide Tricarico)
Italian Marta Bastianelli fractured her jaw in a crash Sunday in Velletri, Rome. The 2007 World Champion, currently suspended for doping, faced reconstructive surgery and will be off the bike for 40 days.
Bastianelli was on a training ride with a group of amateurs and her brother-in-law and Team Quick Step rider, Alessandro Proni, reported La Gazzetta dello Sport. She lost control of her bike and crashed on the roadside shortly into the ride.
Upon arrival at the Velletri hospital, doctors immediately attended to her jaw with 10 stitches. Medics then transported her to a nearby clinic that specialises in facial wounds. The reconstructive surgery consisted of a metal plate that will be removed after four to five months.
Italy's anti-doping tribunal suspended Bastianelli for one-year in October as a result of her positive control for appetite suppressant flenfluramine. She can return to racing August 6.
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