Pozzato breaks collarbone in Qatar crash

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Filippo Pozzato (Farnese Vini-Selle Italia) sustained a broken collarbone in a fall at the Tour of Qatar on Thursday, but his team remains hopeful that he will make a full recovery in time for the Spring Classics.

Pozzato crashed 30 kilometres from the end of stage 5, and was brought straight to the hospital in Doha, where it was confirmed that he had suffered a fracture to his right clavicle. The Italian previously suffered a compound fracture of his left clavicle in a fall at the Tour of Belgium last year and was ruled out of action for two months on that occasion.

“We’ve already been in touch with the doctor who operated on his clavicle last year,” Farnese Vini-Selle Italia manager Luca Scinto told Gazzetta dello Sport. “Pippo will probably be operated on again on Saturday. Provided the fracture isn’t a bad one, we’re optimistic that we’ll have him back in time for Tirreno-Adriatico.”

The rider himself admitted that he is not yet sure of how soon he will be able to return to competitive action. “I don’t know how long it will take, but it’s certain that I will return to Italy for the operation (I think I’ll need one),” Pozzato said via Twitter.

Pozzato dropped down from WorldTour level ahead of the 2012 season to join Farnese Vini-Selle Italia in a bid to kick start his career under the guidance of his former Mapei teammate Scinto. With Pozzato on board, the team has earned wildcard invitations to Milan-San Remo, E3 Prijs Vlaanderen, Gent-Wevelgem and the Tour of Flanders, as well as May’s Giro d’Italia.