Niki Terpstra out for three months with serious injuries after huge crash

Reports by Dutch channel NOS show Terpstra hit a rock while motor-pacing on Tuesday, crashing at high speed before being airlifted to hospital.

His injuries included fractured ribs, a broken collarbone, a collapsed lung and severe concussion.

"Niki suffered an accident on the highway yesterday during training; his heavy fall meant he lost consciousness," team doctor Hubert Long confirmed in a statement.

"He's suffering from a head trauma, a broken collarbone and a back contusion and a pneumothorax requires drainage. He is still in intensive care but he can go home in two or three days. For this type of significant trauma, the period of unavailability is 10 to 12 weeks."

In a social media post the team sent their best wishes to Terpstra, saying:

Terpstra was expected to be one of the team’s main riders at the Tour de France in September, but will now almost certainly miss the race as a he recovers from his injuries.