The preparations of the 2014 season have been hampered for former Italian champion Giovanni Visconti. The Movistar rider crashed in Il Lombardia and was left with a hematoma. An escalating infection has required him to be hospitalised.

Giovanni Visconti ended his 2013 season on a bad not. One week after his aggressive showing at the world championships on home soil, the former Italian champion crashed in Il Lombardia. Despite suffering a hematoma, he still did a good work on the final climb to set up team captain Alejandro Valverde for his 2nd place and managed to finish the race in 32nd. From Italy, he travelled to China where he rode in support of teammate and overall winner Benat Intxauti at the Tour of Beijing.

However, the recovery from his hematoma hasn't gone according to plan. An infection has left him in hospital.

"Hospitalised in Florence. Il Lombardia left me with a haematoma and infection that mean now I cannot even walk.. it's OK," he wrote on Twitter yesterday.

After a difficult first season at Movistar, Visconti found back his best legs at the Giro d'Italia where he won two stages, among them the highly prestigious one to the Col du Galibier in France. In June, he was riding strongly in the Tour de Suisse and was seen as a big favourite for the Italian championships but a bad crash saw him miss the battle for the tricolour jersey. He bounced back with a strong showing at the world championships where he rode aggressively to prepare the final attack from Vincenzo Nibali.

Visconti has signed on with Movistar through to 2015.