MotoGP, Aleix Espargaró injured on bike at the Tour of Austria

Aleix Espargaró certainly hoped for better results for his professional cycling debut. The former MotoGP rider, who was on the entry list for the Tour of Austria, suffered an injury this Friday that could impact the rest of his summer.

Barely a week after competing in the Dutch MotoGP Grand Prix with Honda HRC, Aleix Espargaró took on a completely new challenge: his first participation in a professional cycling race, the Tour of Austria, in the colors of the American team Lidl-Trek.

At 35, the Catalan rider chose to step out of his comfort zone by competing in a demanding event far from the tarmac of the MotoGP circuits. His journey began on July 9th, with the first stage. A 167,8-kilometer stage around Steyr and punctuated by several climbs, Aleix had to show courage, sharing on his social media his admiration for the speed of the peloton and the difficulty of the effort.

Unfortunately, Espargaró's Austrian adventure took an unwelcome turn this Friday, during the third stage of the Tour. While his fellow MotoGP riders were racing in Germany on the first day of the annual Grand Prix held at the Sachsenring, the Catalan crashed in a neighboring country. Suffering a minor fall, he was forced to retire with a suspected broken hand. This setback came as he was just discovering the demands of professional cycling.

"Following a minor fall, Aleix Espargaro was forced to withdraw from the third stage of the Tour of Austria, due to a suspected broken hand.", communicates with his team via X.

This injury, the exact consequences of which are not yet known, could have an impact on his activities in Honda's development program. The Japanese factory is counting heavily on Aleix Espargaró for wildcards and private tests. While the current priority is to determine his ability to continue the tour, his rehabilitation will need to be closely monitored.