AN ITALIAN CYCLIST was rushed to hospital following a horror crash at the Giro d’Italia on Monday.

Domenico Pozzovivo was left stricken and bleeding following a high-speed downhill crash on the third stage of the race.

The 32-year-old was transferred to Genova Hospital where he is said to be ‘conscious and lucid.’

“Domenico suffers from a cranial-facial trauma but the scanner reveals no intra-cranial lesion,” Dr Eric Bouvat said.

“He has deep wounds above his right eye and received slitches.

He is conscious and lucid but has no memory of the crash.

Pozzovivo also fell during the second stage on Sunday, but after this second and heavier fall, a pool of blood was visible beneath where the rider’s head lay on the road.

Pozzovivo came fifth overall in the 2014 edition of the Giro and was the AG2R team leader here.

The fall came on the descent of the Barbagelata hill some 40km from the end of a rolling 136km run from Rapallo to Sestri Levante.

Australia’s Michael Matthews leads the general classification.

– © AFP 2015; additional reporting by Niall Kelly

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