Sending our best wishes to @EthanVernon22 🇬🇧 #YallaIPT
Cycling can be a potentially dangerous sport, whether in or out of competition. While crashes occur on television during races, riders also face precarious situations and crash daily during training sessions. In the past few days alone, two WorldTour riders sustained fractures.
In the past few winters, we have had to mention unpleasant falls and injuries during training sessions all too often. Remco Evenepoel crashed hard in Belgium a few weeks ago, and the Soudal-Quick Step leader sustained several fractures. In the past, we already had the example of Egan Bernal, who crashed into a parked bus during time trial training and was severely injured.
The bad news began on Thursday, December 19, with Ethan Vernon. The 24-year-old Briton of Israel-Premier Tech broke his collarbone in a crash during a training camp in Spain. The team reported this through official channels: "He underwent surgery on a left collarbone fracture on Wednesday morning. The surgery was a success, and Ethan has since been discharged from the hospital." At the time of writing, it was unknown how long the sprinter would be out.
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Sending our best wishes to @EthanVernon22 🇬🇧 #YallaIPT
On Monday, December 23, news came from Team dsm-firmenich PostNL. The Dutch formation reported a crash during training of three riders. "On Sunday, December 22, Chris Hamilton, Oscar Onley, and Tim Naberman were unfortunately involved in a crash on the way back to the hotel. Chris sustained the most serious injuries in the process. A broken collarbone was immediately feared, and local emergency medical services later confirmed that suspicion. Chris returned home immediately that same afternoon and will undergo surgery on his collarbone today."
Onley and Naberman are "luckily doing okay," but for Hamilton, the crash is a significant setback to his program. "It will probably be about four weeks before he can race again, which means his preparation for the Tour Down Under will be affected, and there's a chance he won't be able to participate," said team doctor Camiel Aldershof. "However, such situations are different for each case, so we will continue to evaluate Chris during his recovery to rehabilitate properly and get back to training and racing."