Conti hit by car in Monaco training

High-flying Italian climber Valerio Conti (UAE Team Emirates) will be out of action for up to three weeks after sustaining a dislocated collarbone.

Valerio Conti. Source: Supplied

The 27-year-old was out training near his home in Monaco when he collided with a wall after being struck from behind by a motorist.

Conti was training alone at the time of the accident when a passing cyclist alerted the emergency services and an ambulance arrived on the scene shortly after.

UAE Team Emirates doctor Michele De Grandi “ X-Rays at the hospital in Nice showed a second-degree dislocation of the clavicle and it was decided that surgery was not required. Valerio will be off the road for three weeks but should be able to resume indoor training in the coming days.”

Conti had recently spoken with Italian cycling site tuttobiciweb about his off-season and his decision not to return to his home city, Rome.

“We have decided to spend the holiday season in Monaco where I live, because there is the problem of traveling to the red areas and then the mandatory quarantine," said Conti. "But I will not be completely alone because Davide Formolo lives in my own condominium and we are great friends and we are organizing ourselves. For me it will be a different Christmas, for the first time away from my family and on January 6th I will leave with the team to prepare for the new season."

Conti had a strong 2020 season, with a standout win at Trofeo Matteotti, and a surprising third behind Primoz Roglic and Egan Bernal at the Tour de France lead-up race, the Tour de l'Ain.

"The victory at Matteotti was a great satisfaction and deserves to be remembered, as well as the third-place behind Roglic and Bernal in the second stage of the Tour de l'Ain, but I also remember races in which I helped my teammates, like with Diego Ulissi at the Giro and the victory with Tadej at the Tour. Unfortunately for me the Giro d'Italia did not go as I wanted, from the sixth stage I started to feel unwell and I could not show what I wanted, but I am sure that I will make up again."