Not pretty news from Abruzzo this morning -- Will anyone be left to contest Milan-San Remo? Are we looking at a full-blown curse? Anyway:
Already in superb form, Bettini had won the first two stages of Tirreno-Adriatico with alarming ease. The 31 year-old Olympic champion from Quick.Step tangled with CSC's Lars Bak on a descent after 80km of racing and went down hard. Bettini went to the local hospital in Popoli, near Pescara, where he was treated for cuts and abrasions, as well as an MRI of his pelvis and X-rays of his left knee and right ankle.
Bettini left Popoli Hospital in the late afternoon and went to the team hotel in Vasto. Quick.Step team spokesman Alessandro Tegner told Cyclingnews that "the exams showed that Paolo Bettini has not broken anything. He has a major abrasions and bruising to his left hand and left hip, as well as right knee and right side of his chest. Paolo is in a lot of pain and will have further exams in the next few days, and it's impossible to say now if [Bettini] will compete in Milano-Sanremo."