Pavel Kochetkov breaks collarbone at Tour de Langkawi after helicopter incident
Pavel Kochetkov was blown off his bike and broke his collarbone after getting caught in the rotor wash
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Katusha’s Pavel Kochetkov fractured his collarbone after a low-flying helicopter knocked him off his bike at the Tour de Langkawi during Wednesday’s stage 7, according to a team press release.
The crash, according to news reports, occurred near the 50-kilometer mark of the 230.1km stage from Kota Tinggi to Pekan. The helicopter re-positioned itself from the rear of the race to the front of the peloton, at which point its rotor wash blew Kochetkov — who was chasing down an attacking rider from Singapore — off the road.
“Immediately after the crash Kochetkov, together with team doctor Alexander Yablunovskiy, was brought to the hospital in Kuatan, where the fracture of the clavicle was diagnosed,” Katusha said in a press release.
Kochetkov abandoned the race; news reports say he will travel home to Brescia, Italy for surgery.
Theo Bos (Belkin) out-sprinted the field to win the stage, his second victory at this year’s race.