Neo-professional Pavel Kochetkov's Tour de Langkawi ended in dramatic fashion when he was blown of his bike in today's seventh stage of the Malaysian race. Having tried to bridge across to an early escapee, Kochetkov was left on the road with a broken collarbone when a helicopter moved from the back to the front of the peloton and the team will now make an official complaint.

Team Katusha’s Pavel Kochetkov suffers from a broken collarbone after a crash in the 7th stage of Le Tour de Langkawi (230.1 km from Kota Tinggi to Pekan). The crash was caused by the airflow of a low-flying helicopter.

The incident happened when Kochetkov tried to bridge across to Ho Junrong (OCBC) who had taken off from the peloton on his own. Although supposed to remain at the back, a race helicopter moved to the front, blowing dust into Ho Junrong's eyes and causing the two riders to collide.

Immediately after the crash Kochetkov, together with team doctor Alexander Yablunovskiy, was brought to the hospital in Kuatan, where the fracture of the clavicle was diagnosed. Rider and medical staff will decide soon on time and place for a surgical intervention but it is reported that he will now travel to Brescia and has to wait for two weeks for the surgery to be carried out.

Katusha manager Viacheslav Ekimov plans to file an offical complaint to the organizers.

Meanwhile, the stage finished in a bunch sprint won by Theo Bos from Belkin, who outsprinted Aidis Kruopis from Orica-GreenEdge and Leonardo Duque from Team Colombia. Aleksandr Porsev was the best Katusha rider in19th place.