“It was probably one of the very last training sessions" – Training crash may force early retirement for Pierre Latour

Pierre Latour, the 31-year-old French cyclist, may be confronting an early end to his career after being injured in a training accident in southern France. The Team TotalEnergies rider was cycling in Peyrins, in the Drôme department, on Tuesday when he was struck by a delivery truck.

According to local newspaper Le Dauphiné Libéré, Latour was hit on the arm by the truck’s wing mirror while negotiating a bend in the road. Firefighters provided treatment at the scene before he was transported to the hospital in Romans-sur-Isère. The driver of the truck tested negative for alcohol and drugs, and Latour avoided serious injuries, his father confirmed.

"It was probably one of the very last training sessions I would do with Pierre," Claude Latour told Le Dauphiné Libéré. "I was following him on a scooter as usual, and his arm caught the wing mirror of a delivery truck that didn't see him coming on this road with its small bends. Pierre was taken to the hospital emergency room. We thought his arm was broken. In the end, this wasn't the case, but he was badly hurt."

Latour, who turned professional with AG2R La Mondiale in 2015 and spent six years at the team before joining TotalEnergies, had planned to retire at the end of this season. The upcoming Chrono des Nations on October 19 was intended to be his final race in the peloton, but the recent accident may have brought his career to an abrupt close.

"He was supposed to end his professional career after the Chrono des Nations in Les Herbiers," his father said. "I have a feeling that's already happened." He also added: "I'd be surprised if he could ride a time trial bike, where you have to be flat on your stomach on the bike these days."

Latour will have a bitter end to his career, in which he got seven professional wins. The last one came earlier this year, when he won the first stage of Boucles de la Mayenne - Crédit Mutuel thanks to a late attack, beating illustrious riders such as Biniam Girmay or Bryan Coquard.

A versatile rider, he excelled in punchy terrains and developed into a solid time trialist, winning the French national championships back to back in 2017 and 2018. But his biggest feat was undoubtedly the stage win he got in 2016 at the penultimate day of the Vuelta a España, where he beat his breakaway companions at Alto de Aitana.