Edoardo Affini was going strong in the opening kilometers of the national time trial championship, but crashed on a descent between Briaglia and Bastia Mondovì. The Mantua-born rider for Visma Lease a Bike, European time trial champion in 2024, went down after just 6 km from the start and was loaded into an ambulance, conscious but in pain. Immobilized on the spot, he responded to all stimuli while speaking with the paramedics who assisted him.

The 30-year-old Dutch-adopted rider (he married a Dutch woman and now lives there for much of the year) had great ambitions for today's race and had the Tour de France alongside Jonas Vingegaard scheduled after the Nationals, now at serious risk due to today's crash consequences. Medical examinations at the Mondovì or Cuneo hospital will tell us more...

UPDATE 6:50 PM. The initial assessment - pending the official statement that Visma Lease a Bike will issue once all examinations are completed - indicates a deep groin laceration that required internal and external stitches to close, injuries the Mantua rider sustained after hitting the guardrail at 70 km/h on a descent section.

We are now awaiting the results of the CT scans and X-rays to which the rider was subjected, especially since Affini hit his back violently and appeared to be in considerable pain. We are obviously awaiting the final evaluations and the team's final decision, but we confirm that Edoardo's presence at the Tour de France, which starts in 9 days, is increasingly at risk.

UPDATE 8:00 PM. In the evening, an official statement from Visma Lease a Bike arrived: "Affini crashed heavily during the Italian National Time Trial Championships and was transported to the hospital without ever losing consciousness. Hospital examinations have ruled out fractures and his recovery will be monitored in the coming days".