Opting to play things safe with an important season ahead, the GreenEdge team has taken the difficult decision to pull him from the lineup for the Santos Tour Down Under, his country’s most important race.
The talented young rider crashed heavily during Tuesday’s national time trial championships when a passing truck caused a gust of wind which knocked him from his bike.
He suffered various injuries, with his wrist being most badly affected. Extra scans taken earlier today confirmed that there was no fracture, but caution has prevailed and the he and the team have agreed to give the WorldTour race a miss. The team has not yet said who the replacement will be.
“Obviously it's pretty disappointing, but you have to look at the positives out of it as well. There are no breaks, so it's only a matter of days now instead of weeks or months if it was a break,” Bobridge told the Sydney Morning Herald.
“It's obviously going to be disappointing, missing out on the Tour - the first time with GreenEDGE and also (my) hometown race. It's not the end of the world and I have a big season ahead of me.”
It is thought possible that he could return to competition in the Australian track championships which, like the Santos Tour Down Under, are based around his home town of Adelaide. Last year Bobridge set a new world record in the individual pursuit, clocking a fantastic four minutes 10.534.
In addition to having ambitious plans on the road in 2012, he is likely to be a core part of the Australian team pursuit squad for the Olympic Games in London.
That too is why the team are playing things safe at this early point in time; they and Cycling Australia want the season to be injury free and without complications.
Bobridge had hoped to defend his national road race title on Sunday but was stung by a wasp shortly beforehand. He
Bobridge has had an unlucky start to the year, also suffering a wasp sting to the face before last Sunday's national road race title. He rode aggressively early on but was a non finisher.
“Hopefully that's all the bad luck out of the way and I can move on to having a big and successful year,” he said.