25 August, 2017, Santa Rosa, California (USA)
Richie Porte and Ben Hermans have resumed training after sustaining serious injuries in crashes at the Tour de France and Tour of Poland respectively.
BMC Racing Team Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Max Testa said that Porte is on track after a significant period off the bike.
“Richie Porte crashed out of stage 9 of the Tour de France on a high speed descent which left him with a non-displaced right clavicle fracture and a non-displaced right acetabulum fracture. Richie is improving very well. Now that he is back on the road he is starting to increase his kilometers and build his fitness up from scratch. He has limited discomfort in his shoulder but the hip is not bothering him at all. We will continue to monitor his training and form over the coming weeks and then determine if Richie can line up at a race before the season ends. The goal is to see Richie pin a number on his back again before the off season,” Dr. Testa said.
After a significant block of rehabilitation, Porte is enjoying riding his bike again.
“I’m feeling good. Obviously, the collarbone takes a little longer to recover and my elbow flared up a bit but hopefully that’s nothing too serious. I’m over the worst of it. Every now and then I still feel some pain in the collarbone and elbow, when I hit a bump in the road for example. But, in general my recovery is on track,” Porte explained.
“I started back on the trainers two weeks ago and last Monday I went back on the road for the first time. I’ve been riding every day and managing a light 2-3 hours. Of course, I’ve lost a lot of fitness and I’m getting passed on the road but it’s nice to get the encouragement as they go by. At this stage, I’m still focusing on making a full recovery and we’ll decide down the track whether I race again this year or if a solid block of training is what I need to recover best.”
Hermans suffered a fractured right wrist, a fractured left hallux (big toe), a fracture on his sternum and broken teeth when he crashed out of stage 3 of the Tour of Poland.
“Ben Hermans has recovered very well from his crash in Poland. His recent scans are all good and he has been given the go ahead from the radiologist. Now he needs to pass the test on the road and begin to build up his training. We will have a better idea early next week of when Ben can return to racing. It could be as soon as ten days so once his fitness is where it needs to be, we will select his race program accordingly,” Dr. Testa explained.
Hermans is preparing to return to racing.
“I am feeling pretty okay concerning the fractured bones. They are healing well and they don’t hold me back from riding the bike. The worst healing process is with my broken teeth. They are provisionally repaired but still bother me so I’m just waiting until they are 100% healed. My neck is still a bit stiff but is loosening up,” Hermans said.
“I got green light from the doctors to go riding on the road. So since last Friday I am back on the road and even completing four hour rides. Before that, I did some session on the rollers on days that I was feeling well, especially after the surgery on my nose. So I think I didn’t lose too much of form and I am hoping to be fit again soon. We still need to decide together with medical staff and directors when I will be able to make my comeback to racing this year. But for sure I will race again in September or October.”
