Matteo Moschetti (Trek-Segafredo) tackles the Bologna time trial(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
While Bora-Hansgrohe's Pascal Ackermann was able to ride away from the crash in the final kilometre of stage 10 of the Giro d'Italia on Tuesday to fight another day – albeit with cuts and bruises and a torn maglia ciclamino – spare a thought for Trek-Segafredo sprinter Matteo Moschetti, who was not so lucky.
The Italian's Giro is over, with the 22-year-old having suffered a dislocated shoulder, leg injuries and cuts to his face. However, Moschetti's team reported that he hadn't lost consciousness, nor suffered concussion, despite the severity of the crash.
Ackermann appeared to have tangled with CCC Team's Jakub Mareczko, with both riders crashing off to the right side of the road, while Moschetti appeared to hit either Ackermann's wheel or handlebar, and ricocheted off to the left side of the road, hitting the barriers at speed and with considerable force.
Like Ackermann, this was the Trek-Segafredo rider's first Grand Tour, and while the German road race champion has already taken two stage wins and holds the points jersey, Moschetti appeared to be inching closer to a possible victory, but will now have to recover and wait for his next opportunity.
He perhaps came closest at this Giro in the bunch-sprint finish to stage 3 last week, when Italian road race champion Elia Viviani deviated from his line and swerved in front of Moschetti, causing the younger rider to stop pedalling.
Viviani crossed the line first, but was then relegated for the infraction, with UAE Team Emirates' Fernando Gaviria – who'd finished second – handed the stage victory, with Arnaud Demare (Groupama-FDJ) second, Ackermann third and Moschetti fourth.
"For us, it was clearly a foul on Moschetti," Trek-Segafredo's head sports director, Kim Andersen told Het Nieuwsblad at the time. "Matteo lost all his speed due to Elia's move."
Get The Leadout Newsletter
The latest race content, interviews, features, reviews and expert buying guides, direct to your inbox!
On Tuesday, however, the team was just happy that Moschetti's injuries sustained on stage 10 weren't any more serious.
"After a series of X-rays, we are happy to say that Matteo has no fractures," the team wrote in an update on social media. "He has a small dislocation of the left shoulder and has a lot of muscular pain in his legs from the impact. Matteo also has superficial wounds over his body and face.
"He did not lose consciousness after the crash and is cleared of risk of concussion," the report continued. "Matteo will not start stage 11 tomorrow [Wednesday] as his shoulder and legs will take some time to heal."
Trek-Segafredo also posted a banged-up-but-still-smiling picture of Moschetti on Twitter, which read: "Not the way Matteo wanted to end his first Giro, but we know he'll be back."
Cyclingnews is the world's leader in English-language coverage of professional cycling. Started in 1995 by University of Newcastle professor Bill Mitchell, the site was one of the first to provide breaking news and results over the internet in English. The site was purchased by Knapp Communications in 1999, and owner Gerard Knapp built it into the definitive voice of pro cycling. Since then, major publishing house Future PLC has owned the site and expanded it to include top features, news, results, photos and tech reporting. The site continues to be the most comprehensive and authoritative English voice in professional cycling.
