Adam Cianciarulo out for 2015 Monster Energy Supercross season

Published Dec. 12, 2014 3:30 p.m. ET

foxsports

This past weekend, rising star Adam Cianciarulo suffered a hard crash during the first heat race of the SX2 class (250cc) at the annual Geneva Supercross, in Switzerland. While initial reports were scattered, many outlets reported that Cianciarulo was put on a stretcher and taken out in an ambulance with an apparent arm injury. Initial speculation overseas was that he suffered a shoulder injury and was held overnight for additional observations.

However, until Thursday we had no certain word as to the extent of Cianciarulo's injury until the Kawasaki Racing Team made the formal announcement that the sophomore rider would be forced to miss the entirety of the 2015 Monster Energy Supercross season after he had surgery this week to fix the injury to his left shoulder.

"I'm very frustrated, not just for me but for my sponsors and all of my supporters," said Cianciarulo in the release. "I've been fortunate and blessed enough to have a very healthy career up until this past year. My offseason training has been going well and everything was coming together nicely to have a good supercross season.

"This injury sets me back, so now I am turning my focus to getting healthy and preparing for motocross starting in May. As hard as this is, I'm in good spirits knowing I have such a great group of people behind me."

This is the second time Cianciarulo has been forced out of supercross competition with an injured left shoulder. Last season the Florida native got his supercross career off to a flying start by winning three of the first five races of his rookie season and establishing himself as the rider to beat in the Eastern Regional 250SX Class Championship. Unfortunately, heartbreak struck in Toronto after his shoulder dislocated while racing. He had it popped back in and attempted to continue racing, but couldn't endure the pain and ultimately went under the knife the following week, leaving him sidelined for 3-4 months.

Cianciarulo will now set his sights on claiming the 250 Class title in the AMA Pro Motocross Championship, which begins in late May. He missed the summer season last year following his first shoulder surgery.

As the most dominant rider in Loretta Lynn's AMA Amateur National Motocross Championship history, Cianciarulo has been touted as the heir to the likes of Ricky Carmichael and Ryan Villopoto and is expected to some day become the sport's most recognizable name.