Team Sky’s Michael Barry was a non-starter on today’s second stage of the Eneco Tour and will spend the next few weeks recovering from a broken rib and then preparing for two home-soil ProTour events.
The Canadian hit the deck 33 kilometres from the end of yesterday’s stage to Rhenen and while he managed to complete the race, medical checkups afterwards revealed the fracture.
“I was disappointed that I was unable to start this morning but the pain and injury are too severe to keep going,” he said prior to stage two. “My fitness is quite good at the moment and I was very keen to race.”
The accident is a frustrating one for Barry, not least because he recently battled through the same injury to finish his first Tour. The thoughts of pushing on again in the same circumstances are not welcome ones, but fortunately the Eneco Tour is not the Tour de France and there’s less of a need and obligation to try to finish.
“As I also fractured a rib during the Tour de France it makes more sense to let my body heal properly rather than push through the pain and risk further injury,” he explained.
The 34 year old is generally regarded as a team player rather than an out-and-out leader. However he took a fine seventh place on home soil in the 2003 world road championships in Canada, and is psyched to perform strongly again in the new races on September 10th and 12th.
They are the Grand Prix Cycliste de Québec and the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal, and will bring this year’s ProTour series of events to a close.
“I will need a few weeks to recover fully and hopefully I will be able to maintain some fitness for the ProTour races in Canada,” said Barry.
Aside from being a respected rider, he is also the author of several books written from within the peloton.