In a painful turn of events, Hungarian champion Blanka Vas suffered a fall during her cyclocross training, injuring her collarbone. The 22-year-old SD Worx rider is set for surgery tonight at the Herentals hospital, although the duration of her absence from competition remains unclear.
The timing of Vas’s accident comes as a particularly harsh blow. She had just kick-started her cyclocross season last week at the GP Oisterwijk, where she notched up an immediate win, outperforming Annemarie Worst and Denise Betsema. The extent of her absence is yet to be determined, leaving her immediate future in the sport uncertain.
The women’s cyclocross season is going to be missing a good few of its regulars. Marianne Vos won’t take part at all this winter after surgery, Lucinda Brand is delayed after a crash at the Simac Ladies Tour, Denise Betsema was injured coming into the season, Puck Pieterse is doing a reduced schedule and so is Shirin van Anrooij. Blanka Vas is the latest to join that list.
Main photo credit: Bart Hazen
