West Shore native Ryder Hesjedal crashed in the third stage of the Tour de Suisse cycling race Monday, ruining his comeback race after withdrawing from the Giro d’Italia last month.
The Belmont secondary grad was sitting second overall after the second stage, but crashed at the 150-kilometre mark of the 205-km stage from Montreaux to Meringen.
Hesjedal's suffered what was described by Team Garmin-Sharp as "a heavy blow to the neck and head" and was taken to a local hospital for evaluation. He had multiple, severe contusions and abrasions to the right wrist, hip and knee, and left shoulder, elbow and knee, a report stated. Preliminary CT scans showed no fractures or brain injuries and he remained under observation by medical staff of Team Garmin-Sharp.
The hope was that he would be able to resume training in a few days' time, but that depends on his speed of recovery.
The crash came less than a day after Team Garmin-Sharp announced that Hesjedal had re-signed to ride professionally with the team through 2015.
“Everyone works exceptionally hard for the success of Garmin-Sharp and I want to continue to be a part of that,” he said in a release.
He joined the team in 2008 and has gradually improved his results on the European pro road cycling circuit, culminating in his win at the Giro d'Italia last year.