PARIS, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Australian champion Lucas Plapp has undergone abdominal surgery following a bad fall in Saturday's Olympic men's time trial race.
Plapp fell in a technical section in the 14th kilometer of a race made incredibly dangerous by continued rain, which saw a host of cyclists fall in both the women and men's races and some riders described the surface as an "ice-rink."
Plapp slid under a barrier fence shortly after passing the first checkpoint approximately 14 kilometers into the 32-kilometer course. His parents and an Australian team doctor were at the hospital with him.
"Plapp was taken to hospital, where he is in a stable condition awaiting the results of scans," said AusCycling in an initial media release.
Photos showed that the rider's jersey had been almost completely ripped off in the crash and that he also suffered bad 'road-rash,' with the Australian team later publishing an update on his condition.
"23-year-old cyclist Lucas Plapp underwent abdominal surgery tonight in a Paris hospital after crashing in wet conditions during the men's individual road time trial," it said without confirming any other details.
The race was won by Belgian world champion Remco Evenepoel, with Italy's Filippo Ganna second and Evenepoel's compatriot Wout van Aert taking the bronze medal. ■
