Oscar Onley sustained his third broken collarbone in the space of eight months when he crashed out of Amstel Gold Race on Sunday.
The DSM-Firmenich-PostNL rider’s run of ill fortune began during his Grand Tour debut at the Vuelta a España in August, when he fractured his collarbone in a crash on stage 2. The incident came just a day after he had helped his squad win the opening team time trial of the race.
Onley fractured his collarbone again in late January, when he crashed out of the Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race. He had just secured his first WorldTour victory on Willunga Hill during the Tour Down Under, where he finished a fine fourth overall.
After recovering from that fracture and spending a stint training at altitude in Tenerife, the Scot returned to action in late March at the GP Miguel Indurain, and he was immediately up to speed, placing third behind winner Brandon McNulty. Onley went on to catch the eye at Itzulia Basque Country, where he was an aggressive fifth on the breathless final stage to Eibar.
The 21-year-old was set to play a key role for DSM-Firmenich-PostNL at the Ardennes Classics before his latest setback at Amstel Gold Race.
The team confirmed after the race that Onley had abandoned due to a crash during the race.
The rider himself later indicated that he had also sustained another broken collarbone in the incident, posting a picture of the x-ray on Instagram with the caption, “How many fckn times.”
In Onley’s absence, DSM will look to Warren Barguil to lead the line at Flèche Wallonne.
