Kristen Faulkner injured by a car in training

Jayco-AlUla revealed on Wednesday morning that Kristen Faulkner had been hit by a car whilst out training in California.

The American rider has been diagnosed with a small knee fracture and “will be unable to race until the knee has healed,” according to the team.

In a statement, the Australian outfit added: “As always, the health and wellbeing of riders is the priority and Faulkner will work closely with the medical team throughout this recovery period. We wish Kristen all the best with her recovery.”

More details of the crash have yet to be revealed by the team and Faulkner has not made a public comment to date, but their Giro Donne team was unveiled on Tuesday without the presence of last year’s two-time stage winner. Instead, their plans will be spearheaded by Basque climber Ane Santesteban.

Although not scheduled to race the coming Giro d’Italia Donne, Faulkner may have been in line to return to the Tour de France Femmes avec Zwift in July after competing in last year’s inaugural edition.

With no timeframe for her return, her participation in this year’s edition is in doubt.

Last year’s Tour was not the most successful race for neither Faulkner nor her team, with the Alaskan suffering from a series of crashes and Jayco-AlUla (then BikeExchange-Jayco) failing to achieve a top-five finish on any of the eight stages.

Elsewhere, 2022 had been a breakthrough campaign for Faulkner, wearing the first maglia rosa of the Giro Donne and finishing the race in the mountains jersey.

Heading into only her third season on the WorldTour, the 30-year-old looked set to take a further step forward in the spring with a 3rd-place finish at Strade Bianche, only for her result to be removed due to wearing a continuous glucose monitoring device, the use of which is banned in competition.