Published on : 04/08/2022
Hit by a car on March 24th during a training ride, the 28-year-old German rider is gradually regaining his physical abilities. He is not fit for Paris-Roubaix and could make his comeback in May.
"I'm on the right track!" Max Walscheid has not lost his optimism, a fortnight after he was involved in an accident. On Thursday 24 March, during a training ride near his home in Franken, Germany, he was hit by a car. He was admitted to the emergency ward of the Marie Klinikum St. Elisabeth Hospital in Neuwied, but no fractures or head injuries were detected. A week later, the doctors found that the lungs were affected with bleeding and a pneumothorax.
The German rider is also being followed by the Cofidis medical staff and is reassuring: "My physical condition is improving day by day", he says. Max is doing home-trainer sessions and road rides in order to "recover well" and then "gradually gain in intensity". He knows that he has to give up Paris-Roubaix, where he finished 12th last year. Despite the frustration this will cause, Max will do everything he can to return to competition next May.
REACTION MAX WALSCHEID
"The accident was a shock, as was what the doctors diagnosed in my lungs. Nevertheless, I have always been very motivated to come back to racing and to get back to my best physical condition as soon as possible. Of course, my first road ride since the accident was not very pleasant but mentally it is also getting better and better. I'm not worried about getting back to my full racing sensations: although I had an accident during a training camp in 2016, I never had a serious crash in a race. I will not participate in Paris-Roubaix and I knew from the accident that it would take time to recover. I am disappointed but I know that I can't change anything. The most important thing now is to leave the accident, its memory and its consequences behind me to bounce back as soon as possible."