Quick-Step DS reveals that Tim Merlier was badly injured in Giro d'Italia time-trial: "His entire side is open"

The Giro d'Italia has seen crashes affect the ambitions of quite a few riders. One of them may be Tim Merlier who was not known to have fallen recently, but it has been said that he fell hard actually during the race's time-trial.

“Tim fell quite hard during the time trial on a fast section due to a bump in the road and tumbled over his handlebars. His entire side is open. He is scraped from ankle to elbow," team DS Iljo Keisse told Het Laatste Nieuws. On stage 7 it was possible to see Tobias Lund Andresen hit the deck but as far as was known, the Danish sprinter was the only rider who crashed whilst racing against the clock.

Merlier, who won stage 3 of the race and is still searching for more stage wins in the sprints, could be a favourite for today's stage into Napoli however the large amount of road rash he's suffered may be a big obstacle for the Belgian.

Keisse says Quick-Step will not take responsibility on the day: “We expect a move from Alpecin-Deceuninck. We will initially keep our distance and then see what happens in the final."