>Filippo Baroncini successfully underwent 11 hours of work to fix what had been described as “multiple facial injuries, a fractured vertebra, and facial and clavicular fractures.”
>“We can say that the worst is over, but we need to be patient,” team CEO Mauro Gianetti told TuttoBici. “Filippo needs to take all the time he needs to heal.
>“What happened to him wasn’t just a simple fall. His face was disfigured. What the surgeons did in more than 11 hours of surgery was incredible,” Gianetti said Monday.
>Baroncini was one of many who went down in a devastating crash on stage 3 of the Tour de Pologne earlier this month.
>Baroncini was later placed in an artificial coma to immobilize fractures in his face and back and flown to hospital.
>Gianetti said his rider underwent two separate operations last week at a hospital in Milan and is doing well.
>Andrea Agostini, chief operating officer at UAE Emirates XRG, revealed Ineos Grenadiers played a key part in helping Baroncini in the brutal aftermath of the crash.
Ineos veteran Michal Kwiatkowski was unhurt when he fell, but called his team medic to help his stricken rival.
>However, Agnostini also called out the organization behind the top-rated Poland tour.
>Baroncini suffered a long agonizing wait before he was evacuated from the race-course.
>“This raises a few questions. There’s a lot of talk about safety, and the teams and riders are always at the center of the discussion … But are the organizers exempt from everything?”
>“Filippo was conscious on the ground for more than 40 minutes before he was taken to hospital. Mauro [Gianetti] took charge of the situation, but it’s not clear why he was loaded into an ambulance and then not taken to the nearest hospital. They waited for another one to arrive,” Agnostini said.
>“Filippo’s face was disfigured. With such a blow to the head, he couldn’t have waited all that time.”