Bettiol breaks collarbone at Bretagne Classic

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BMC Racing's Alberto Bettiol fractured his collarbone and broke a finger in a crash at the Bretagne Classic Ouest-France on Sunday, and will now miss the upcoming one-day WorldTour races in Canada.

"The roads were pretty narrow and slippery because it was raining," explained Bettiol in a press release. "I was really in front, in the front row, on a downhill right-hand corner, and I lost control of my front wheel. It was more or less the same way I did it [collarbone] in Liège-Bastogne-Liège a couple of months ago.

"I crashed pretty hard on my right side and I immediately felt that something was wrong with my right collarbone," he said. "As well as the fractured collarbone, I have a contusion on my right hip, but I'm OK and not in too much pain."

Bettiol was part of BMC's winning team time trial team on the opening stage of Tirreno-Adriatico in March, but then missed much of the season when he crashed at Liège in April.

The 24-year-old Italian – who finished second at the 2016 Bretagne Classic to Oliver Naesen, who also won on Sunday – had only returned to racing at the Grand Prix Cerami in late July, and was set to race at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec and the GP Cycliste de Montréal on September 7 and 9, respectively.

"At this stage, we have not determined if he will undergo surgery," said BMC team doctor Michel Cerfontaine. "Generally, fractures of this nature require around six weeks to heal, but once a decision has been made about a surgical option, we will make a plan for his recovery."

Bettiol will rejoin EF Education First-Drapac in 2019 – the same Jonathan Vaughters-run team he rode with for three seasons before joining BMC for the 2018 season.