IAM Cycling team-mate Stefan Denifl also ready to pin on a number once again after getting over his own injury
Having crashed in the Tour de Suisse and fracturing his pelvis, and being forced to spent time in a wheelchair as a result of that injury, Heinrich Haussler is getting closer to a comeback. He has confirmed that he will resume competition in the Tour de Poitou-Charentes, which begins on August 27th.
For the IAM Cycling rider, that will be the first step in a buildup which he hopes will see him back to his top form next spring.
“I felt shock when I was told that I would have to be off the bike for a period of twelve weeks,” he said, speaking about the diagnosis he got after his stage six crash in the Tour de Suisse. “I was gutted morally and physically. I had to use a wheelchair.”
Former Tour de France stage winner Haussler showed a return to form this season. He was fifth on stages of the Tour of Qatar and Paris-Nice, and went on to take thirteenth in Milan-Sanremo, eleventh in the E3 Prijs Vlaanderen – Harelbeke, fourth in Gent Wevelgem, sixth in the Ronde Van Vlaanderen and eleventh in Paris-Nice.
Those solid performances were followed by a stage win in the Bayern Rundfarht, a result which boosted his morale heading into the Tour de Suisse.
There, he was third in the opening prologue, then fifth and sixth on stages prior to his crash.
Having been in the hunt for more wins, he suddenly found himself in a position that he had to use that same determination to simply be mobile and to try to recover from his accident.
“I gritted my teeth and I was confident that everything would be okay as I was working everyday three and four hours with the physiotherapist,” he said, describing the effort he put in to try to return.
That work has paid off. “For the past two weeks, I have had the pleasure of riding on the road again with my bike. I have not spared myself, regularly doing six and seven hour rides.”
Although he hasn’t been back training on the road that long, he feels ready to take the next step a little later this month. “I’ll head off to the Tour de Poitou-Charentes in order to rediscover the pace of competition. Then hopefully I can have a selection of races that will help prepare me in the best way possible for the spring Classics of the 2014 season.”
Team-mate Stefan Denifl is also getting close to be able to return to competition. He fell on July 5th during the Tour of Austria and fractured his collarbone; that too has progressed and he will get back to racing in eight days’ time when he competes in the Tour du Limousin.
“After the accident, I did not touch my bike for three weeks. Then I came back gradually,” he said. “For the past two weeks, I have been able to train normally, though I do still feel pain when I want to pull hard on my handlebars. It will do me good to get back into the peloton because there is a difference in the training output versus the efforts you give in competition.”
He added that he also hopes to ride the world road race championships in Florence in September, believing that the difficult circuit there could suit his characteristics well. Getting back to racing more than a month beforehand will, he hopes, give him enough time to prove his value to the Austrian team selector.
One of the doctors who treated the riders, Professor Jacques Ménétrey of the Geneva University Hospital, said that he has been impressed by the determination both riders displayed.
“Both have shown an exemplary attitude and unusual motivation to get healthy and fit,” he said.
Team Manager Serge Beucherie is also impressed. He noted that Haussler was expected to be out for longer.
“Thanks to excellent medical care and his own deep determination, Haussler has recovered faster than expected from the fracture to his pelvis. For Heinrich, his goal was not to end the 2013 season on a misfortune.”