Mikel Landa is set to undergo surgery on his broken collarbone after his crash during stage 5 of the Giro d'Italia.
The Bahrain Victorious leader left the race after he was among three riders to go down after colliding with a road marshal five kilometres from the finish in Cattolica. He crashed along with mountain classification leader Joe Dombrowski (UAE Team Emirates) and AG2R Citroën's François Bidard, both of whom left the race due to their injuries.
Landa suffered a broken left collarbone and multiple rib fractures in the crash and was taken to Riccione hospital in an ambulance after the stage. He has since been discharged and is now set to undergo surgery.
"Mikel spent the night resting well and managing pain," team head doctor Dainele Zaccaria said. "He was submitted for further investigations to exclude pneumothorax and internal lesions, and they were all negative.
"Therefore, he has been allowed to fly back home. The team arranged a private flight from Rimini to Vitoria, and the medical plan is to undergo surgery tomorrow morning there.
"After the surgery, he will start all the treatment needed to have a prompt and safe recovery."
Bahrain Victorious will continue in the Giro d'Italia with Pello Bilbao and Damiano Caruso as leaders. Bilbao finished fifth at the race last year and won two stages in 2019, while Caruso finished eighth at the 2015 edition.
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
"Mikel was our team leader and he was here to try to win the Giro. We’ll race on and we’ve still got Pello Bilbao and Damiano Caruso," said Franco Pellizotti after the stage.
Dani Ostanek is Senior News Writer at Cyclingnews, having joined in 2017 as a freelance contributor, later being hired full-time. Her favourite races include Strade Bianche, the Tour de France Femmes, Paris-Roubaix, and Tro-Bro Léon.
