Trek-Segafredo to monitor Vincenzo Nibali’s condition following injury at Strade Bianche

The Italian got caught up in a crash and was one of many abandons as the WorldTour returned
Jonny Long

Vincenzo Nibali suffered blunt trauma to his left hand at Strade Bianche after crashing, which forced him to abandon the race.

Of the 166 riders to take the start in Siena, only 42 finished, as the scorching heat neared 40 degrees for a peloton returning to the intensity of WorldTour racing, with the women’s bunch similarly afflicted, only registering 45 finishers.

Nibali’s injury was specifically to the muscles in his left hand, the team said after the race, and that they would let their rider rest for the night before deciding in the morning whether he would require additional medical attention.

Nibali decided to test his hand in a training session with the team on Sunday morning, and the team’s physician Dr. Magni will continue to test the rider ahead of a series of Italian races he is set to compete in.

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“At the end of the tests the diagnostic doubts will be clarified and the presence of the rider in the upcoming races will be evaluated,” Trek-Segafredo said, saying the 35-year-old will first see how comfortable he is on the bike at Gran Trittico Lombardo on Monday August 3.

The two-time Giro d’Italia and Tour de France winner will then race Milano-Torino, Milan – San Remo, Gran Piemonte and Il Lombardia, before lining up for Tirreno-Adriatico and eventually the Giro d’Italia.

Despite Elisa Longo Borghini’s fifth-place finish in the women’s Strade Bianche, it was pretty much a weekend to forget for Trek-Segafredo, as the women’s squad had six bikes stolen from their truck the night before the race, and Lizzie Deignan sustained a painful-looking injury after a crash.

Update from Trek-Segafredo: Good news for Vincenzo Nibali. The medical tests he underwent this afternoon, x-rays and MRI scan of his left hand and wrist, excluded any fractures. A significant blunt trauma to the area of the thenar eminence area still remain, but will not affect his racing schedule. Nibali’s presence tomorrow at the Trittico Regione Lombardia is confirmed.