World cyclo-cross champion Zdenek Stybar has received some good news about his knee problems, being told that he doesn’t need to go under the knife to recover from the issue, and that he can do some light training next week.
“I'm very relieved the MRI scan has shown that I don't need surgery,” he revealed. “However I need to build up very gradually and long endurance rides to regain fitness aren't possible yet.”
Stybar has had knee problems since mid-November, and last week was told that he must take a complete break from racing until Christmas. His Telenet-Fidea team doctors explained that efforts to get over the issue had yielded only temporary results, and so taking a complete break was necessary.
Now, receiving the news that things are not as serious as might have been feared in terms of surgery, he is making plans to fly to sunnier climes in order to begin short training rides. However it’s still going to be several weeks before he can return to racing.
“For now, I'm still looking at the end of December,” he explained. “With the diagnosis I received today, that should be attainable. Next week I leave for Spain, perhaps Mallorca.”
Stybar’s started the season in a very impressive fashion, winning the first two rounds of both the World Cup and the Superprestige, and also taking the opening leg of the Gazet van Antwerpen trophy. However things started going badly after his Halloween win at the Superprestige in Zonhven.
He missed last weekend’s round of the World Cup in Igorre, losing his overall lead in that competition, and looks set to be absent from Kalmthout (Dec 19) and perhaps Heusden-Zolder (Dec 26). He’ll also miss round four of the Gazet Van Antwerpen trophy in Essen on December 11th, but could perhaps return for round five on December 29th in Loenhout. The Superprestige race in Deigem on December 27 might also be on the cards, depending on how things go over the next fortnight.
His main priority is to regain fitness in time for the 2011 Elite world cyclocross championships in St. Wendel on January 30th.