Alonso involved in road accident while cycling

Fernando Alonso has been involved in a road accident while cycling in Switzerland.

The two-time world champion is “conscious and well in himself” and now awaiting further medical examinations on Friday morning, his Alpine F1 team said in a statement.

No further details were released, with the team saying that the next update will be on Friday.

Italy’s Gazzetta dello Sport reports that Alonso was hit by a car while he was cycling on roads near Lugano.

The newspaper says that the Spaniard was hospitalised for checks, with X-rays showing a suspected jaw fracture, and that Alonso was being transferred to Bern for further examination.

F1 pre-season testing starts in Bahrain in four weeks’ time, with the racing season underway at the same venue on March 26-28.

Alonso is returning to F1 this year after two seasons spent racing in other categories, with the 39-year-old back with the team he won his two world titles with in 2005 and 2006.

The former McLaren and Ferrari driver won the World Endurance Championship with Toyota in 2019, while he has also competed in the Indy 500 and Dakar Rally.

Alpine is the new name for the Renault team, with the Enstone outfit undergoing a rebrand ahead of the 2021 season.

Alonso completed a number of tests in the closing months of 2020 to prepare for his F1 comeback, making his full official testing return at the end-of-season session in Abu Dhabi in December.