Team car collides with rider during under-23 men's Worlds road race (video)

A team car collided with a rider during the under-23 men's road race at the UCI Road World Championships in Norway on Friday.

Finnish rider Joni Kanerva suffered a fractured collarbone, bruised ribs and cuts as a result of the incident, reports Norway's TV2.

The Cycling Union of Finland, Suomen Pyöräilyunioni, issued a brief statement via its Facebook page saying that the 22-year-old is in a stable condition in hospital.

The incident occurred as a team car was drawing up at the side of the road. Another team car following it swerved around the parked car, clipping Kanerva as was trying to make his way back up to the peloton.

Kanerva was sent flying into the roadside barriers in front of shocked spectators, who can be heard audibly gasping in a video of the collision.

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TV2 reports that the police are now involved in an investigation into the incident.

Suomen Pyöräilyunioni said that it would issue an update on Kanerva's condition as soon as information was available.

"The entire Finnish team wishes their teammates a speedy recovery and wishes the audience to focus on the weekend's upcoming games," it said.

There have been a number of collisions involving riders and race vehicles in recent years, with the UCI in the process of introducing new regulations to try and prevent such incidents.

On Tuesday, the UCI announced that the maximum number of riders in any race on its International Road Calendar would be restricted to 176 in an attempt to improve rider safety.

Regulations have already been introduced by the UCI to restrict the number of race vehicles, and how they move around within races.

Widespread calls for stringent regulations regarding race vehicles were made after Belgian rider Antoine Demoitié (Wanty-Groupe Gobert) died of his injuries after colliding with a race motorbike during the 2016 edition of Ghent-Wevelgem.