Albert taking the win at Dottoginies two weekends ago. © Bart Hazen
Our European corespondent Christine Vardaros reports:
Niels Albert is out for two weeks with a fractured trapezium bone in his hand due to a car accident. On a training ride today, Albert swerved to avoid something and was hit by a passing car’s rear mirror. This means that his GvA Trofee and Superprestige overall is in jeopardy, as he will miss GvA’s Hasselt and Superprestige Gavere this weekend, and Superprestige Gieten the next.
He will also miss the next World Cup round in Koksijde on November 26, although it is said that his overall classification is already lost due to the mishap in Plzen World Cup where the cameraman blocked his start, leading to his poor result that day. They put a cast on his hand that will remain in place for two weeks.
Vardaros adds: “We now know the favorite to win World Championships in Koksijde. Considering Albert may have lost his chances to win an overall competition in the three event series, he will be expected to put it all on World Championships as he did three seasons ago after his season-damaging crash in Superprestige Gavere. After losing a good two months of racing, he came back to claim the rainbow jersey.”
At Cyclocross Magazine, we wish him a speedy recovery and return to racing.
