For Annemiek van Vleuten (39) it will be a feat to make it to the start of the road race on Saturday night (Belgian time).
The Dutch cycling association KNWU reports that investigations have revealed a “stable fracture in Van Vleuten’s elbow”.
A final decision on whether or not to participate in the road race will be made later this week.
National coach Loes Gunnewijk: “Annemiek is allowed to cycle with this stable fracture, but the question is of course with how much pain that will be. We will see that in the coming days. We hope that Annemiek can still start, but that must be justified. ”
Van Vleuten and her teammates had only just started the time trial when disaster struck. The winner of the Giro, Tour and Vuelta was the top favorite for the road race.
She responded to the NOS after her hospital visit: “An operation is not necessary. I was well helped by the doctor, a bicycle enthusiast. They said: good luck on Saturday! According to them, it can be done if I can tolerate the pain.”
“It’s nice that it would be medically responsible, but we have to take a look at everything on the reels tomorrow. Because I’m pretty black and blue after the blow.”
Source: Sporza
