Matteo Moschetti has been diagnosed with additional injuries, his Trek-Segafredo team announced after the young Italian underwent successful surgery to fix a fractured hip.
The 23-year-old won two of the Challenge Mallorca races before moving on to Étoile de Bessèges where he crashed at high speed on the third stage.
He suffered a dislocated femur and a fracture to the hip socket (acetabulum), injuries which were addressed in Tuesday's surgery in Bergamo.
"This accident was a bad blow, I can't deny it, but now that the operation has been successful and I have the green light to start rehabilitation, I feel relieved," Moschetti said in a team press release.
Moschetti's neo-pro season with Trek-Segafredo last year was marked by a crash that put him out of the Giro d'Italia after two promising top-five finishes in sprint stages.
"After a 2019 marked by bad luck, I had hoped to have put it behind me. The start of the season had been remarkable. But now all I can do is to look forward, stay optimistic and proactive," Moschetti said.
Trek-Segafredo head physician Dr Gaetano Daniele met this Wednesday with Moschetti's surgeon, Dr Mario Arduini, Orthopedic coordinator of the Pelvic Traumatology Service of the Humanitas Gavazzeni Hospital in Bergamo to confirm there were no complications.
In addition to his hip fracture, Moschetti also suffered a non-displaced fracture to his left scapula (shoulder blade), a broken rib and chipped bones on several of his vertebrae - injuries that should not impede the rehabilitation of his hip.
Moschetti is scheduled to begin physiotherapy and be on the stationary bike next week, gradually increasing his time on the bike over the next five to six weeks, according to the team.
"For complex cases like Matteo's, the time needed for a complete recovery is very subjective and linked to numerous variables which, in this initial phase, cannot be exactly determined. We can hypothesize that by mid- or end of May at most, Matteo should be able to resume training," Dr Daniele said.
