Liège-Bastogne-Liège was going well for Marianne Vos until she crashed in the run-up to the Roche-Aux-Faucons, causing a fractured collarbone. Our European road champion had surgery on Sunday evening in Amersfoort. The bone fragments have been repositioned with plates and screws in order for the fracture to heal well.
What exactly happened?
“We were with a strong WaowDeals-block perfectly in the race. La Redoute was tough, I must say, but we were doing all right. It was going hard in the run-up to the next climb, the Roche-Aux-Faucons as everyone wanted to be well positioned. There was a crash on the left-side of the road in a short descent. I was on the other side and saw Jeanne (Korevaar, red.) take a tumble in a soft turn to the right. The group was startled which made me crash and roll-over, landing on my right-hand side.”
You finished the race, didn’t you?
“A rider wants to keep going and so do I. I got up after the crash and the pain was not too bad. I switched bikes at the team car and continued the race. I noticed that pulling on the handlebar did not go very well. I felt at that moment that something was not right.”
And then?
“After the race, I had a check-up in the team bus, after which I went to the hospital in Maastricht for a scan where the fracture was confirmed. I then had surgery at a specialist in Amersfoort. The procedure went very well – it’s nice that people wanted to help so quickly. I have to take it easy for a couple of days. Depending on the pain, I can then cautiously start training on the Tacx.”
What are the changes in your programme?
“I won’t be racing during the next 4 weeks, which means I will have to miss the GP Elsy Jacobs, Trofee Maarten Wijnants and the Wielerfestival Aalburg. The altitude training which I had planned during the second half of May, doesn’t seem to be jeopardised. It is expected that I can pick up where I left off somewhere in June. It’s disappointing that things don’t go as planned – I was nicely easing into the pace – but fortunately, the season is still long.”
