Rabobank’s Matti Breschel has undergone a second knee operation, according to the Dutch team. The Danish rider was re-examined at the hospital in Amersfoort, Netherlands; at first there appeared to be nothing wrong, as he MRI scan failed to see anything, but on further examination doctors found a small piece of scar tissue.
The tissue was removed in a small operation, using a local anaesthetic, and the rider is expected to return home on Wednesday.
Breschel has been troubled by problems with his knee since last year’s Paris-Roubaix; he was operated on in November but his return to racing in February’s Volta ao Algarve did not go well and he was forced to abandon during the third stage.
The World Championship silver medallist transferred to the Rabobank team over the winter in order to be able to ride the classics as an undisputed captain; although he later admitted that, with the exodus of riders from Saxo Bank-SunGard, he would have been just as happy if he’d stayed behind.
After Breschel returns home he will not be able to use his knee for two weeks, after which he will hope to be able to resume light training. Obviously, this means an end to any ambitions he may still have been clinging to for the spring classics.
He will now be concentrating on the end-of-season classics and the World Championships in his home capital, Copenhagen.