British champion Fred Wright taken to hospital with suspected broken collarbone

British champion Fred Wright has been taken to hospital with a suspected broken collarbone.

The Bahrain-Victorious rider crashed during stage four of the Renewi Tour, the Belgian race previously known as the Benelux Tour and Eneco Tour.

Wright, aged 24, was forced to abandon the race immediately, and his team confirmed after the stage that "he is at hospital with a suspected collarbone injury."

If confirmed, it will be the second time that Wright has broken his collarbone, having suffered the same injury in December 2021 at a team training camp in Spain.

The injury, likely to rule him out for the rest of the season, comes with Wright sitting fifth overall on general classification, after finishing sixth on the third stage and 15th during the stage two individual time trial. Stage four was won by DSM-Firmenich's Sam Welsford.

Back in June, Wright took his first win as a professional when he became British road race champion. 

He featured in two breakaways at the Tour de France, and finished in the top-20 on four separate stages.

Despite only having one win on his palmarès, Wright has established himself as one of his team's most valuable assets with his punchy and combative racing habits.

He has been a pro with Bahrain-Victorious since 2020, and has a contract until the end of 2025.

In 2024 he will have a British compatriot, with Finlay Pickering joining the team from Trinity Racing on a three-year contract.

The 20-year-old previously raced for the development team of Groupama-FDJ.