Movistar neo-pro 22-year-old Matthias Norsgaard suffered a double fracture of his tibia after being hit by a car while training in Girona. Norsgaard will undergo surgery in Spain or Denmark and will be out for six months before he can compete in his first race in Movistar colors.

The young Dane won the opening stage of this year's Tour de Lavenir and finished fourth in the under-23 world championship time trial in Yorkshire. He is one of a new generation of young riders signed by Movistar as the Spanish team rebuilds for the future after losing Nairo Quintana and Mikel Landa.

In recent weeks, Domenico Pozzovivo, Letizia Paternoster, Vittoria Bussi, and junior rider Andrea Ostrani were run over by cars in Italy.

"It's terrible. I'm in the hospital and I'm really hurt," Danish TV2 reported Norsgaard as saying.

"My preparations were going very well and I was looking forward to the start. Now everything is ruined. Fortunately, I have a two-year contract with Movistar, but breaking my leg is the worst possible start."

Norsgaard explained that as he was finishing his run in Girona, he was crossed by a car trying to enter a parking lot. He collided with a lamp post and suffered a double fracture of his lower leg.

"I couldn't do anything. I couldn't do anything. I ran into the car and hit the lamp post," he explained.

"If I hadn't hit the lamp post, I might not have been seriously injured because I didn't have a single scratch on my body. I hit my tibia directly against the lamp post. I was lying in a puddle and couldn't move. I tried to move my leg, but it was as if it wouldn't move."

Norsgaard was taken to a local hospital but will either be transferred to a private hospital or returned to Denmark for surgery.