The fundraising page set up by the Hagens Berman Axeon team to aid their former rider Adrien Costa in his rehabilitation from a leg amputation is closing in on its target of $100,000.
Since the page was set up by Axel Merckx and his American team on Wednesday, the total has reached almost $82,500 by the time of writing on Friday afternoon.
The fund is to help the team's former rider Adrien Costa with medical expenses after a climbing accident left doctors with no choice but to amputate his right leg above the knee.
The 20-year-old has not ridden with the team since the first half of 2017, deciding to take time away from cycling to pursue other interests. He was touted as one of America's best young cycling prospects, having won stages at the Tour of Utah and the Tour de Bretagne overall in 2016. Costa also spent time in 2016 as a stagiaire with Etixx-Quick-Step.
Costa was climbing on July 29 on the north ridge of Mount Conness in Mono County, California, when a near two tonne rock gave way and crushed his leg against a boulder.
Two hikers were able to alert emergency services which arrived in time to take Costa to hospital and save his life, but the injuries to his leg meant doctors had no choice but to amputate when he arrived at the Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno.
Since the injury and fundraising effort were announced, the cycling community has showed universal support to Costa with a number of big names contributing to his rehabilitation fund, including Romain Bardet (Ag2r la Mondiale), Michael Valgren (Astana), Rick Zabel (Katusha-Alpecin), Laurens Ten Dam (Sunweb) Dries Devenyns (Quick-Step Floors), Larry Warbasse (Aqua Blue Sport) and Nathan Haas (Katusha-Alpecin) among a huge number of others.
Quick-Step boss Patrick Lefevere made a donation in the team's name, while Eddy Merckx and his wife Claudine also contributed.
LottoNL-Jumbo are also auctioning off signed best young rider, king of the mountains and leader's jerseys - worn by Neilson Powless, Daan Olivier, and Sepp Kuss respectively - from the 2018 Tour of Utah in Costa's aid, which you can bid on by visiting the eBay page here.
You can find and contribute to the fundraising page here.
"Everyone at Hagens Berman Axeon is deeply saddened by the news and our thoughts and prayers are with Adrien's family and friends at this difficult time," the team said in their message on the fundraising page.
"We have set up this page to help with medical expenses and are asking the cycling community to join our efforts. Any donations, or help you can offer in terms of sharing this link, would be greatly appreciated."
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