Bizarre: Cyclist apparently rode the Giro d'Italia for 10 days with four broken bones

Uno-X Mobility enjoyed a successful Giro d’Italia thanks to Fredrik Dversnes’ victory in Milan, but their race was also shaped by the withdrawal of sprinter Erlend Blikra. A week and a half after the Grand Tour, the Norwegian has revealed that the damage from his crash on day one was far worse than initially thought.

Blikra crashed during the opening stage in Burgas, where he was the rider who hit the barriers and brought down, among others, Dylan Groenewegen and Kaden Groves. The Norwegian complained afterwards of back pain, but still continued all the way through stage 11 of his first Grand Tour.

That day, Blikra — who had also fallen ill during the race — finished outside the time limit. The pain, however, did not go away. And once the medical verdict became clear, it was not hard to understand why.

In mid-June, Blikra revealed that he had done all of that with four fractures. “Examinations after my crash in the first stage of the Giro d’Italia have revealed three fractures in my lower back and a broken rib,” he said.

“Not the answer I was hoping for, but at least the struggle now makes sense,” Blikra continued. “The focus is now on recovery. That means no racing for a while, but I will do everything I can to be back as soon as possible,” added the fast man from Uno-X Mobility

Author: David Bavin-Hobbs - [email protected]