Cycling news - Tour of Turkey: Fernando Gaviria breaks collarbone as crash ends season

The 54th Presidential Tour of Turkey has already lost a marquee rider on just its first day after Colombian sprinter Fernando Gaviria (Quick-Step Floors) hit the deck with less than four kilometres remaining in the 150km opening stage in Konya on Tuesday.

The 24-year-old, who has amassed nine victories this season after 14 last year, entered the six-stage UCI WorldTour race as a heavy pre-race favourite to challenge Irishman Sam Bennett (Bora-Hansgrohe) on the sprint stages.

However, Gaviria’s 35-year-old Argentinian team-mate Maximiliano Richeze picked up the slack and took the win over Bennett, who won four sprints last year as Italian Diego Ulissi (UAE-Team Emirates) took the general classification.

"The plan was to go for the sprint with Fernando, but unfortunately he crashed and we had to quickly change our tactics, so Alvaro [Hodeg] would be the last man of our sprint train,” explained Richeze, who claims his 27th career win.

"In the last corner, Alvaro lost my wheel as he had to straighten his line in order not to crash, which meant I took a gap of 30 meters and went with all I had without looking back."

Despite the fall, which was later shown to have caused a broken clavicle, Gaviria finished the stage before being immediately rushed to the local hospital. The two-time 2018 Tour de France stage winner will fly to Belgium on Wednesday for further examination to determine whether or not an operation is required.

"I am very happy for this victory, it’s my last race of the season and on WorldTour level, so it means a lot to me, but it’s a real pity Fernando crashed and broke his collarbone," said Richeze. "I know how disappointed he is to end his season like that and I wish him to heal fast.

"I came here to work for Fernando, and if not him, Alvaro, so this win comes as a nice surprise. There will be other sprint opportunities this week and with Alvaro being the fastest on the team now, I will be there to help him."

For full stage and race results, click here.