Australian cycling star Mark Renshaw will be sidelined for several months after suffering a serious injury in a "scary" accident.
The 36-year-old sustained a fractured pelvis on Saturday when his bike collided with a car while training for the 2019 season in his NSW hometown of Bathurst.
Renshaw, who has competed at the Tour de France on 10 occasions, said he was thrown over the bonnet and knew instantly the extent of the damage.
"In a split second I was laying in the middle of the roundabout," he posted on Twitter.
"I knew as soon as I landed my pelvis was fractured. Cars vs bike never ends well for the bike.
"I'm devastated, for my family, for my teammates, for our sponsors. I know I'm lucky so I'll work harder to be back better."
His South African-based continental team Dimension Data, who boast leading British sprinter Mark Cavendish, confirmed the diagnosis.
"It will take at least three-four months until he will be back racing but the good news is that he doesn't need surgery," the team said in a statement on their website.
Renshaw was gutted to be ruled out of his season debut at the Australian National Road Championships in early January but was thankful his whole year hadn't been ruined.
"It was definitely a scary moment as you now realise it could have been much worse," he said.
