Two days after he crashed hard during the elite time trial at the world championships and fractured his collarbone, Marco Pinotti has received some welcome news. Contrary to first expectations, his BMC Racing Team has said that he will not now need an operation to fix the injury.
BMC Racing Team Chief Medical Officer Dr. Max Testa explained the situation today. announced Friday.
“New X-rays and a consultation support the option of conservative treatment of the injury,” he said after a second opinion gained at a sports medicine clinic in Herentals, Belgium. “Marco will rest and then have a new assessment in two to three weeks.”
Pinotti siad that he was very relieved at the news. “I take this as good news because surgery is always something you don't want to go through unless it's absolutely necessary,” he said.
Winner of the final time trial in this year’s Giro d’Italia and fifth in the Olympic Games, Pinotti beieves that his early conservative pacing strategy and his position at the second intermediate check positioned him as likely to finish third in the race. However his front wheel slid on a greasy corner and he hit the deck hard. He tried to continue but the injury made that impossible.
“I was on track to medal, so the crash left me speechless and extremely upset,” he said. “I can only blame myself for this mistake. I was finalizing a month's work of the entire staff and team, which, like me, deserved this accomplishment.”
Initially very frustrated and thinking about what might have been, he is moving on. “Now two days have passed and the disappointment has been replaced by re-focussing on the healing process instead of regrets or negative thoughts,” he stated.