Sonny Colbrelli 'conscious and feeling okay' after collapse at Volta a Catalunya

Sonny Colbrelli is conscious and "feeling okay" in hopsital, and tests show no "signs of concern", his team have said after the Italian rider collapsed at the end of the Volta a Catalunya's opening stage on Monday.

Bahrain Victorious released a statement on Tuesday morning, explaining that Colbrelli will undergo further tests to work out what caused the incident.

The European champion received emergency medical treatment metres after the finish line of Monday's stage, and was taken to hospital in Girona shortly after.

He had finished second on the uphill drag in Sant Feliu de Guíxols behind Michael Matthews, but then fell unconscious shortly after. He did not start stage two in L'Escala.

The team said Colbrelli was in a "stable condition" on Monday evening, but their update on Tuesday clarifies that he is conscious.

It reads: "After being admitted to Hospital Universitari de Girona Doctor Josep Trueta, Sonny Colbrelli was conscious and feeling okay. He has since been in touch with family and friends as he recovers at the hospital.

"Colbrelli will undergo further tests today to discover the cause of yesterday’s incident. All cardiac tests carried out last night showed no signs of concern or compromised functions. Further updates will follow."

He withdrew after the opening stage of Paris-Nice earlier this month with suspected bronchitis, which also kept him out of Milan-San Remo on Saturday.

The communique released by the Volta a Catalunya organisers gave more details on the incident, which impacted riders from many teams at the finish line on Monday.

“About 100 meters after crossing the finish line, Colbrelli lost consciousness with seizures and subsequently suffered cardiopulmonary arrest,” the statement read. “Paramedics immediately attended to him and were able to reverse the situation with CPR and the use of a defibrillator.”

Dylan Teuns, one of Colbrelli's teammates at Catalunya, told Cycling Weekly that he had been exchanging "a couple of text messages" with the Italian overnight.

"It was just a stressful moment, the unknown moment of what was happening," Teuns said. "Later on we got updates from more teammates and once we knew he was OK we were a bit more relaxed again. We are now focused on the race again."

Colbrelli has been reposting the messages of support he has received on his social media. Among the riders to be in public contact with the Italian were Remco Evenepoel, Wout Poels and Alessandro De Marchi.