Almost two months after a bad crash gave him multiple fractures to his collarbone, Fabian Cancellara will return to competition tomorrow when the Bayern Rundfahrt begins in Germany.
The Swiss rider was in very strong form heading into the Classics and was looking to add to his results there, but fell in the Ronde Van Vlaanderen and was badly hurt. He was subsequently diagnosed with a quadruple collarbone fracture, requiring surgery to put it back together plus a lengthy rehabilitation.
He was able to get back to training just over a month after the crash and in the three weeks since then, has worked hard to build his condition.
He will be joined by Laurent Didier, Tony Gallopin, Yaroslav Popovych, Joost Posthuma, Hayden Roulston and Haimar Zubeldia for the five day, 2.HC event.
Earlier this month, Cancellara told Het Laaste Nieuws about the complications of his crash. "The fractures were one thing. It is the damage around that which was greater than expected,” he said then. “Shoulder, ligaments, muscles – everything was affected.”
He said that he was forced to modify his position on the bike in order to take pressure off his shoulder, raising his bars to put more weight on the saddle.
Cancellara’s return in the German event shows he is keeping up with his own expectations. Two days after his crash he had pinpointed the race as a possible return point, and so it has proved. He’s yet to give an update as to his ambitions, but the Tour de France and Olympic Games are likely to be his two big targets.
Regaining his world time trial title from Tony Martin is also a potential goal, albeit for later this year.
Cancellara’s return is important for RadioShack Nissan, which has struggled to gain big results this year. Frank Schleck replaced an injured Jakob Fuglsang in the Giro, but pulled out in recent days. Once he builds race sharpness, Cancellara will have an important role in helping get things back on track.