Matteo Trentin suffers broken rib after crashing into stone wall on training ride

Italian rider told to rest for at least 10 days

Matteo Trentin wins his fourth stage at the Vuelta a España
(Image credit: Yuzuru Sunada)

Little more than a week after starting a new contract with Mitchelton-Scott and Matteo Trentin's 2018 season has already suffered a setback after he crashed on a training ride.

The Italian crashed while training in the south France, hitting the deck on a descent and crashing into a wall while riding on Saturday.

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"I was training on Saturday with some hill efforts when I slipped on the downhill and went into a stone wall," Trentin said.

"When I saw I was more or less OK, I decided to try to go home by bike but after one minute I understood something was wrong because I had difficulty breathing, so my girlfriend picked me up and took me to the Monaco Hospital."

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Hospital scans revealed that Trentin had suffered a fractured rib as well as other superficial wounds, meaning that he will be out of action for just over a week.

"Matteo Trentin had a fall in training resulting in a fracture to the right fifth rib," said Robbart van Linschoten, Mitchelton-Scott's head doctor. "He will undertake ten days of rest before further assessment."

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Trentin, who enjoyed a highly successful second half of the 2017 season winning four stages of the Vuelta a España as well as Paris-Tours, said that the injury was not causing him too much pain and thanked his training partners for their help.

"I am resting at the moment and can't do a lot, but I am not in too much pain if I stay calm," Trentin continued. "I must thank Philippe Gilbert and Amaël Moinard who were training with me and were a nice help."

The 28-year-old joined Mitchelton-Scott at the start of the year after six seasons at Quick-Step Floors. His schedule for the 2018 season is yet to be confirmed, but early season goals are expected to include Milan-San Remo, the Tour of Flanders, and Paris-Roubaix.

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