Rémi Cavagna has suffered a fractured L1 vertebrae in his lower back after getting caught in a crash at QuickStep's training camp in Spain.
The Frenchman hit the deck along with teammate Mauri Vansevenant in the accident two days ago, with the young Belgian suffering a broken thumb.
Cavagna has been taken to hospital in Valencia, where he will undergo surgery on Monday, while Vansevenant has flown back to Belgium to undergo "further conservative treatment", the team said on Friday. Examinations carried out on Cavagna showed no signs of neurological damage.
The team did not confirm how long the pair would be off the bike, though it is likely to be a case of weeks rather than any longer period of time for Cavagna.
Back in 2018, Mikel Landa while at Movistar spent three weeks out of action after sustaining a similar fracture at the Clásica San Sebástian, though he did not undergo surgery.
Cavagna had enjoyed arguably his most successful season to date in 2021, taking time trial victories at the Tour de Romandie and the Tour de Pologne as well as winning the French national road race title and taking second places in time trials at Paris-Nice, the Volta a Catalunya, and the Giro d'Italia by a combined total of just 17 seconds.
The 22-year-old Vansevenant, meanwhile, impressed during his neo-pro season with the squad, winning the GP Industria e Artigianato in March, grabbing top 10s at the Tour de la Provence and Settimana Coppi e Bartali, and finishing second on a stage of his Grand Tour debut at the Vuelta a España.
QuickStep, who next season will be known as QuickStep-AlphaVinyl, are currently at their end-of-year training camp in Calpe on the Mediterranean coast in south-eastern Spain.
The team is set to kick off their 2022 campaign at the Vuelta a San Juan in late January with Remco Evenepoel as leader at the race he won in 2020.
