A Ukrainian racer participating in this year's Tour de Korea, South Korea's top road bicycle competition, has sustained a critical injury in a crash, the organizer of the event said Friday.

The 31-year-old Yuriy Agarkov on Thursday reportedly suffered the injury after smashing into a motorcycle driven by the organizer at a location about 117 kilometers from the start of the fifth stage in Seongju of North Gyeongsang Province, according to the Korea Sports Promotion Foundation.

The Tour de Korea, entering its sixth year, kicked off in the western port city of Incheon on Sunday. It will finish in Hanam, a suburban city on the outskirts of Seoul, on Sunday after passing through southern and central towns such as Yeongju of North Gyeongsang Province and Yeoju of Gyeonggi Province.

Right after the accident, Yuriy was taken to a nearby hospital in Gumi, 261 km southeast of Seoul, before being transferred to a general hospital in Seoul, as doctors said that his spinal damage was serious, the organizer said. (Yonhap)