Dario Cataldo suffers broken femur in Volta a Catalunya crash

Dario Cataldo will undergo surgery to fix a broken femur suffered in a high-speed crash during the final kilometres of stage 1 of the Volta a Catalunya, Trek-Segafredo announced on Monday.

Cataldo was among the worst off in the crash that took down several riders including Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates), Michael Storer (Groupama-FDJ), Chris Hamilton (Team DSM), and Kristian Sbaragli (Alpecin-Deceuninck).

Trek-Segafredo issued a statement listing a fractured left femoral head and right hip fracture, along with two spinal fractures that fortunately did not have a neurological impact.

In addition to those serious injuries, Cataldo also suffered several broken ribs, a collapsed lung and a broken left collarbone.

The 38-year-old is conscious and stable and is due to be transferred from the local hospital to Girona, where he will undergo surgery to fix the fracture to his left femur.

A winner of stages of the Giro d'Italia and Vuelta a Espana, Cataldo is a key climbing domestique for the team, having raced 25 Grand Tours. He helped teammate Giulio Ciccone to a top five in Tirreno-Adriatico, and completed Milan-San Remo on Sunday.

Although Cataldo is at the tail end of his career, he has a contract with Trek-Segafredo through 2024 but faces a long recovery from his injuries.