Milan (AFP)

Alessandro Zanardi, the former F1 driver who had his legs amputated after an accident, then quadruple gold medalist at the Paralympics, was seriously injured on his hand bike on Friday during a handisport race in Italy.

His condition "is extremely serious, he is currently in the operating room for neurosurgery," said Dr. Francesco Bova, emergency chief at Le Scotte hospital in Siena, where Zanardi had been transported by helicopter after his accident.

Zanardi, 53, was participating in a stage of the "Objectif Tricolore" relay in Tuscany, when he "lost control" of his hand bike, "rolled over two times and then hit a truck. The collision was terrible" , said Mario Valentini, coach of the Italian disabled cycling team, to the Italian daily newspaper Corriere della Sera.

Real flagship of disabled sports all over the world, Zanardi is "a real fighter who inspires a lot of people", responded one of his former teams, Williams F1. "He has already had his share of bad luck, which he has always succeeded in transcending thanks to his determination," added Martin Brundle, the former F1 driver who became a consultant.

- World record in Paralympic triathlon -

"I am very worried, I hold my breath, I pray. I am one of his fans and I am his friend," reacted on Twitter the American Mario Andretti, former F1 world champion.

Zanardi competed in 41 Formula 1 Grands Prix between 1991 and 1999, with the best result being 6th in the 1993 Brazilian GP in a Lotus. He was especially twice champion of Indycar in the United States (1997, 1998), at the time when this series was called CART, then Champ Cars.

Following a major accident in 2001 on the German track of the Lausitzring, at 320 km / h, Zanardi had his legs amputated. He then took the wheel in passenger cars (WTCC) and in GT, then converted to handisport with great success: four gold medals and two silver medals at the Paralympic Games in 2012 and 2016, added ten world titles, all conquered on a hand bike.

"I set myself a goal, that of leading a normal life," said Zanardi after his accident in 2001. "Today, I can walk, swim, ski," he added a few years later. He even participated in the famous Ironman, the toughest triathlon in the world, in 2014 in Hawaii, and set a new world record, last September, for a Paralympic triathlon: 8 hours, 25 minutes and 30 seconds.

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