Bicycle Racing News and Opinion
Monday, December 22, 2014

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Simon Gerrans Breaks Collarbone

Australian road champion and three-time Tour Down Under winner Simon Gerrans crashed badly while training. He broke his left collarbone, making him unable to either defend his national championship title or compete at the Tour Down Under (January 20-25).

Simon Gerrans wins 2014 Liège-Bastogne-Liège

Gerran's Team, Orica-GreenEdge, put out this release:

2014 Liege-Bastogne-Liege champion Simon Gerrans will undergo surgery on a broken collarbone this afternoon following a training crash yesterday.

The surgery will shift Gerrans’ early season focus to the Spring Classics beginning in March as he ensures a complete recovery.

After working hard throughout the off-season, the 34-year-old is disappointed to get so close to the Australian season, and a national championships and Tour Down Under defense, and need to withdraw.

“Unfortunately it doesn’t matter how well the recovery goes from here, I don’t think I am going to be in any condition to be racing at a high level in January,” Gerrans said.

“With that in mind I think it is better to take my time, make sure the recovery goes well and get all the rehab done so I don’t have any ongoing issues.

“It’s a big blow not to be able to line up in the national championships and Tour Down Under and defend my titles. They are races that I really enjoy and I know how important they are to the team.

"Looking on the bright side, what it does do, is force a bit of a break now and mean that I can work towards some goals later in the season and be a lot fresher.”  

After completing an interval session on the road bike from Mansfield to Mt Buller on Sunday, Gerrans then switched across for a couple of hours on the mountain bike, a common cross training activity in the off-season.

“About half way through my mountain bike ride I became a little unstuck, came down and landed pretty heavily on my left side,” he explained.

“I knew straight away as I hit the ground that I had broken my left collarbone.

“From there I had a little bit of a walk to get down to a point where I was picked up by a four-wheel drive and went directly to Mansfield hospital to get cleaned up and have the x-ray to confirm.”

Post-surgery, Gerrans is expected to take a week to ten days off the bike to heal, before rebuilding for another assault on the world cycling calendar.

Sport director Matt White said the injury was a blow for Gerrans and the team on the eve of the 2015 season but expects both to bounce back to make the most of the situation.

“Simon is one of our key riders and the Australian summer, particularly the national championships and Tour Down Under, were a real goal for him again next year,” White said.

“As always he had worked very hard to get himself into peak condition and that is disappointing for him to have it go somewhat to waste. But he is the ultimate professional; he will be back on the bike in no time and hunting down his next victory before we know it.

“In terms of the team this summer, there is no doubt it is a huge hit, but we have some really motivated guys who are looking really strong. Now it is their chance to step up and deliver in a very important period for us and we are really confident they can do that.”

Michael Rogers to lead Tinkoff-Saxo lineup for Santos Tour Down Under 
 

This Press Release Also Came from Tinkoff-Saxo:

Tinkoff-Saxo is ready to kick off 2015 – a season of big expectations within a strong team. The first battle of the new year will be played out at the Australian World Tour race Santos Tour Down Under. Tinkoff-Saxo will be spearheaded by Michael Rogers, who’s looking to create a strong result on home turf.

Michael Rogers wins stage 11 of the 2014 Giro d'Italia

"I'm excited to return to Adelaide for my eleventh Santos Tour Down Under. I'm bringing an enthusiastic and committed Tinkoff-Saxo team, with the aim of getting the season off to a good start,” commented Tinkoff-Saxo's captain, Michael Rogers.

Michael Rogers will be accompanied by Christopher Juul-Jensen, Manuele Boaro, Jesper Hansen, Michael Kolar, Pavel Brutt and Evgeny Petrov, who will ride in support of the former winner of Santos Tour Down Under.

Tinkoff-Saxo, one of the most prominent teams of 2014, has spent the off-season further strengthening the setup and preparing for 2015. According to sport director Lars Michaelsen, spectators at the side of the road and viewers at home can expect to see a motivated group of riders, who are ready to take responsibility in the race.

“The entire team is very excited about kicking off the season in Australia. We’re ready to take responsibility in the race, and I feel that we have a strong group of riders, who are very motivated to support Michael to the fullest. We come with ambitions aiming for a top-5 with Michael but we also know that it’s very early in the season and there are a lot of unknown factors”, comments Lars Michaelsen, who will be leading Tinkoff-Saxo in Australia.

Santos Tour Down Under consists of 6 stages in flat and undulating terrain. Tinkoff-Saxo is fielding a diverse group of riders to support Michael Rogers throughout the race keeping him in a good position before the crucial stage 5.

“We have to keep Michael in a good position before the queen stage to Willunga Hill, where we’ll most likely see the big race favorites try to decide the race. That requires a consistent effort from the entire team, but I sense that all the guys are motivated and ready to fight for each other”, finishes Lars Michaelsen.

Tour Down Under starts January 20th and finishes in Adelaide on the 25th.

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