Ethan Hayter has suffered another setback in the form of another broken collarbone at the Critérium du Dauphiné, throwing into doubt his chances of a Tour de France debut this summer.
The Ineos Grenadiers rider hit the deck with around 75km to go on the opening stage of the French race, which took place in soaking wet conditions.
He was taken to hospital, where it was revealed he had fractured his left clavicle, or collarbone. According to the team, he also suffered a head impact that required minor stitching and road rash on the hip, knee, and elbows on the left side of his body.
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"Ongoing team medical assessment and treatments will be planned accordingly over the coming days," read a statement from the team.
It is unclear at this stage how long Hayter will be out of action. Collarbone fractures can take up to six weeks to heal, while some minor breaks take far less time. It was not confirmed whether Hayter's fracture will require surgery.
The Tour de France begins in just under four weeks' time, on Saturday June 1. Hayter, who was on Ineos' long-list, will miss the rest of the Dauphiné but could maintain some form on his home trainer, although it's still a big ask to recover the injury sufficiently to race in that timeframe.
Hayter suffered the same injury at the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race at the start of February, forcing him to miss the European Track Championships and then ride an altered spring programme without any Classics.
The 24-year-old, who also broke a collarbone at the 2019 Tour de l'Avenir, bounced back to ride the Volta a Catalunya and then win stages at Itzulia Basque Country and the Tour de Romandie.
In May he attended a training camp in Tenerife with a large chunk of Ineos Grenadiers' prospective Tour de France squad, having only ridden one Grand Tour since turning professional in 2020 - that being last year's Vuelta which he had to abandon through COVID-19.
The Dauphiné is the main warm-up race for the Tour, with Egan Bernal and Daniel Martínez in action for Ineos, alongside Jonathan Castroviejo, Carlos Rodríguez, Omar Fraile and Ben Turner.
