Defending world time trial champion Chloe Dygert has crashed out of her title defence in horrifying fashion, losing control and flipping over a barrier.
The 23-year-old American was 26 seconds ahead at the intermediate checkpoint of the 31.7km circuit at Imola, Italy, when she wobbled heading into a corner.
She failed to get control, hit a guard rail and flipped down an embankment.
She was taken to hospital, having suffered a gruesome gash above a knee.
“Currently we don’t know the prognosis yet. I know for a fact that she was flown to a hospital in Bologna and that she is being seen by doctors in the emergency room now,” her coach Kristin Armstrong told Reuters.
“They were all concerned with a deep laceration to her leg, where she hit that guard rail. It’s horrifying and sickening, and it’s going to be a hard recovery for Chloe.
“This is definitely a serious accident but she will look back on it and hopefully be able to say that she was lucky in a lot of ways. It could have been more serious.”
Olympic road race champion Van der Breggen claimed the title.
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