Trek Factory Racing’s Riccardo Zoidl crashed just 30 minutes into the first training ride at the Trek Factory Racing training camp in Spain on Wednesday and sustained a 4-part fracture of the left collarbone.
Zoidl will return to his home in Austria on Thursday and undergo surgery either Thursday or Friday. If all goes well, he hopes to be back to training in around a week’s time.
“Our team doctor told me we can fix it with a pin and this way I can get back to training faster,” explained Zoidl from the team hotel in Alfaz del Pi, Spain. “I am fairly confident I can return to training and be back on the bike in one week, and then you don’t lose so much (fitness).”
The unfortunate news came not long after the team departed for its first training ride of the 10-day camp. With the team split into three groups and Riccardo Zoidl part of the second group, a report came back that a light crash had occurred amongst the leading riders. They were warned about the super slippery roundabout, but even at a slow speed it was impossible to keep the bikes upright.
Zoidl: “We knew that this roundabout was slippery as 4-5 guys crashed in the group ahead of us and so we took it easy. I was sliding a little bit, but I could handle it and thought I was safe and then my teammate next to me crashed and went directly into my front wheel and I flipped over. We were not going fast, maybe 10-15km/h, but it was really, really slippery. I think a total of 10 of us crashed there.
“I was super disappointed in the first five minutes after it happened, but now I have come to terms with it. This is the second time for me and I was really nervous the first time I broke my collarbone, but now I know what to expect with the rehab. It’s a shame that it was a short training camp for me, but everything in life has a reason.”
Trek Factory Racing team doctors will monitor the situation with doctors in Austria to coordinate the operation and rehabilitation.
