Landa's Giro d'Italia in doubt after crash with motorbike

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Mikel Landa will have an MRI scan to establish the seriousness of his injuries and determine whether or not he will be able to continue the Giro d’Italia following a crash on stage 9. According to a report in the Spanish publication AS, Landa slept well but has been complaining of a lot of pain in his leg.

Landa injured his left leg in a crash on the run into the final ascent of Blockhaus when Wilco Kelderman clipped his handlebars on a police motorbike that was stopped at the side of the road. Landa's teammate, Geraint Thomas, was also caught up in the incident. Initially, Landa looked like he hadn’t suffered too much damage in the crash but he struggled on Blockhaus. He said after the stage that he had been effectively pedalling with one leg.

In the end, Landa lost almost 27 minutes to Nairo Quintana (Movistar) on the ascent, putting an end to any general classification hopes he harboured. After paying a visit to the medical truck, he was transported by helicopter from the finish to Asis where Team Sky is staying for the second rest day of the Giro d’Italia.

Later on in the day, Landa posted a picture of his swollen leg on social media with the caption, “Complicated day… Tomorrow more tests to discount serious injuries and to recuperate, the maximum to continue.”

Team Sky say that the additional tests are just a precautionary measure but there is still some doubt as to whether or not Landa will be able to continue the race. The full extent of his injuries is likely to be known later today. Despite his shoulder injury, Thomas should be able to continue although he too has dropped down the standings and is now just over five minutes down on Quintana in the overall standings.