Bahrain Victorious racer Matej Mohorič will not be taking part in the Sea Otter Europe Girona gravel race this Saturday after a bad crash during a recon of the course.
The defending Gravel World Champion, Mohorič will instead head home to recover from his injuries.
Mohorič is set to take part in both the Road World Championships on Sunday September 29 as well as the Gravel World Championships on October 6 in Belgium.
“Unfortunately, Matej Mohorič suffered a bad fall during the recce of the UCI Gravel World Series Sea Otter Europe Girona course,” Bahrain Victorious said on social media.
“Due to his injuries, he will not be able to start on Saturday. He will return home to recover and focus on the upcoming World Championships on Gravel."
Sea Otter Girona was due to be one of the rare occasions that Mohoric has raced as Gravel World Champion due to a heavy WorldTour schedule. He recently took part in both Canadian WorldTour events, taking 30th in the GP Quebec and DNF in the GP Montreal.
In a recent interview with Cyclingnews Mohorič said that his form was steadily improving after a difficult early summer, notably in the Tour de France.
"I think my form has steadily been going back to normal after the disaster of the Tour, with not feeling well and not being at anywhere close to my normal level. I was well in Poland, but I've not recovered yet fully from the fatigue of the Tour. Then I was better at Renewi - I didn't end up with a top result, but still, I was in the mix," he said.
It remains to be seen what effect, if any, Mohorič's training crash in Catalonia has on his upcoming double World Championships participation.
His role in the Road World Championships in Slovenia is set to be conditioned by the presence of star riders Primoz Roglič and Tadej Pogačar in the same line-up. But in the Gravel World Championship, given his success last year, Mohorič is labelled as a major pre-race favourite.
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