Giovanni Visconti (Movistar) has undergone successful surgery in hospital in Adelaide on the fracture in his right tibia after his high-speed crash at the People's Choice Classic criterium on Sunday.
The former Italian national champion fractured his tibia after hitting the advertising barriers on a corner during the warm-up race for this week's Santos Tour Down Under.
According to the Movistar team, the operation lasted roughly an hour, with an intramedular nailing rod being introduced to Visconti's tibia in order to stabilize the fracture and speed up his recovery.
Visconti was taken to hospital in an ambulance from the scene of the crash, clearly in pain and disappointed to suffer a serous injury in the first race of the season. However after the operation he posted several photos on Twitter of the Movistar soigneur who stayed with him in hospital and of former teammate Simon Clarke, who visited him in hospital.
Visconti will stay in the Adelaide medical center for three days before being released and flying back to Europe next week with the rest of his teammates at the end of the Tour Down Under.
The Movistar team suggested that Visconti will need five weeks off the bike, followed by a gradual rehabilitation process that could last several months.
Visconti won two stages at the 2013 Giro d'Italia but was already forced to spend time in hospital in November after an infection sparked by an end of season crash.
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