EF-Education First rider suffers amnesia after incident in Tuscany
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Daniel Martinez (EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale)(Image credit: Courtesy of Polartec-Kometa)
EF Education First-Drapac teammates Hugh Carthy and Daniel Martinez pre-stage(Image credit: Tim de Waele/Getty Images Sport)
Daniel Martínez (EF Education First-Drapac)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Daniel Martinez (Wilier Triestina)(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Jesper Hansen, Diego Ulissi and Daniel Martinez on the podium(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
EF Education First-Drapac rider Daniel Martinez is in hospital in Tuscany after being attacked by a motorist following an incident while training on Tuesday morning.
Martinez is expected to stay in hospital overnight for further checks due to suffering amnesia, perhaps caused by a blow to the head that left him knocked out. The EF Education First-Drapac team have told Cyclingnews that their medical staff are in contact with him and offering him full support. Former teammates and friends plan to visit in him in hospital in Pistoia on Tuesday evening.
"I was training in Italy and a car almost killed us. We protested and he went crazy. He got out and attacked me. He punched me on the jaw and knocked me out. He broke another guy's lip and then ran away," El Tiempo report Martinez as saying.
Martinez is coached former rider Michele Bartoli.
"There was some kind of altercation with a motorist while the guys were out training," Bartoli told Cyclingnews.
"I've called Dani, he seems OK and he recognised my voice but admitted that he can't remember anything from the last few months, including his recent good ride at the Volta a Catalunya or his move from Wilier to EF Education First. He’s in hospital for further checks."
The 21-year-old was apparently riding near his Tuscan base in Montecatini Terme with fellow Colombians Julián Cardona and Miguel Eduardo Florez. According to the Cicloweb website, they almost crashed when passed by a vehicle and after Martinez shouted at the driver he was attacked. The driver then left the scene but the rider apparently failed to note the vehicle’s licence plate number.
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Martinez joined EF Education First-Drapac for the 2018 after two seasons with Wilier Triestina-Sella Italia. He finished fourth overall at the Tour of Turkey and had top-ten finishes in Milano-Torino and the Tre Valle Varesine one-day races. In 2015, riding for Team Colombia, he was eighth overall in the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah.
He finished second in the Colombian national time trial championships behind Egan Bernal in early February, was fifth overall at the Colombia Oro y Paz race and most recently finished eighth overall at the Volta a Catalunya WorldTour race in Spain.
