DENVER, Colorado – Three minutes into the Denver Monster Energy Supercross race, Eli Tomac landed hard in the rhythm section and ruptured his Achilles tendon, an injury that will end his 2023 season and bid to win a second consecutive championship.
Tomac rode slowly through the next straight and was in too much pain to continue. Tomac rode directly to the tunnel with his left foot raised and went straight to the Alpine Medical trailer.
Tomac was leading the race at the time of the incident in front of his hometown crowd. He entered the race 18 points ahead of Chase Sexton with the opportunity to clinch the championship if he won and Sexton finished worse than sixth.
Sexton was outside that mark for the first couple of minutes. The medical crew helped Tomac into the trailer as Chase Sexton was chasing down race leader Adam Cianciarulo.