Lars Boom (Rabobank) came down heavily in the first lap of today’s Grote Prijs Sven Nys in Baal, Belgium. The Dutch champion was leading the race but lost control of his bike on a slippery descent and came down hard with his lower back hitting a crowd barrier. After checking his bike thoroughly he remounted, close to the back of the field, but was obviously not comfortable and abandoned the race shortly after.
“I know my body well enough to know that something is not right,” was the 25-year-old’s first reaction, according to De Telegraaf. “Hopefully this will not affect my preparations for the road season, but right now I’m afraid it might.”
Boom will travel to the Meander hospital in Amersfoort to have his injuries examined and determine how much they will affect his training. Although the Dutchman was World champion in 2008, he has since committed himself to a future racing on the road; his limited cyclocross calendar this year, which included a victory in the Heusden-Zolder World Cup on December 26th, was mainly to give his winter training some variety.
The GP Sven Nys is the final international cyclocross race he was to take part in this season; after next weekend’s Netherlands national championships in Sint Michielsgestel, which may now be in doubt, Boom will concentrate wholly on road racing.
On Christmas Eve Boom had a bit of fun with the media by announcing “Boom tegen Boom” (Boom hits tree) on his Twitter page, with a picture of a deeply cut knee. That time it turned out to be Boom’s father who was injured, this time there is no doubt.