Dutch cyclist Wilco Kelderman appears to be the worst hit after seven cyclists from the German Bora - Hansgrohe team were knocked down by a motorist during a training ride.

Bora said Sunday three of their riders were in hospital and that Andreas Schillinger and their new recruit Kelderman, who came third in the 2020 Giro d'Italia, both suffered fractured vertebrae.

"Several of our riders were involved in an accident with a car, which crossed the road and rode into our training group," said the Bora statement.

"Wilco sustained a concussion and a fractured vertebrae. Andreas sustained broken vertebrae in the cervical and thoracic spine.

"For both riders, we're aiming for conservative treatment."

Rudiger Selig, Marcus Burghardt, Anton Palzer, Max Schachmann and Michael Schwarzmann were the other riders knocked down by the car.

Kelderman was at one time in the lead on the 2020 Giro, wearing the pink jersey on stage 20 before Australia's Jai Hindley took it off him and then lost it to eventual champion Britain's Tao Geoghegan Hart.

The incident occurred on the final day of Bora's training camp on the roads of norther Italy near Lake Garda. The seven riders involved had reportedly gone out for an extra hour of training near the team's hotel when a silver SUV cut across their path.

Peter Sagan was not involved in the accident, having completed his training with a different group of Bora riders that day. 

Wilco Kelderman is one of Bora's most exciting new additions in 2021, but it is now uncertain when he his racing debut will be. 

The crash is a rude introduction to professional cycling for new recruit Anton Palzer. Palzer is a professional ski mountaineer who was slated to begin racing with Bora in April at the conclusion of the ski mountaineering season.