F1 ace Fernando Alonso reportedly sustains “multiple fractures” after he was hit by driver while cycling

Fernando Alonso, the former world champion Formula 1 racing driver, has reportedly sustained suspected multiple fractures after he was hit by a driver while riding his bike in Switzerland.

La Gazzetta dello Sport reports that the crash happened near Lugano, which lies between Lake Maggiore and Lake Como in Switzerland’s Italian-speaking Canton Ticino, just across the border with Italy.

The Spaniard, who won back-to-back Formula 1 driver’s championships with Renault in 2005 and 2006 and is also a two-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, is due to drive for the Alpine F1 team – formerly Renault – for the next two years, with the season due to start in Bahrain on 28 March.

In a tweet, his team said that the 39-year-old is “conscious and well in himself and is awaiting further medical examinations tomorrow morning.” It added that it will provide an update on his condition tomorrow.

Alpine F1 Team Statement pic.twitter.com/ateZJHITxj

— Alpine F1 Team (@AlpineF1Team) February 11, 2021

A huge cycling fan, Alonso unsuccessfully tried to buy the licence of the former Euskaltel-Euskadi team in 2013, and was subsequently reported to be planning to launch his own team at the following year’s Tour de France.

Paolo Bettini, the ex-Olympic and world road champion, gave up his job as coach to the Italian national team to head up the project, but the plans were eventually shelved.

> Paolo Bettini says 2014 was "wrong year" for Fernando Alonso cycling project