Chloe Dygert has made a surprising exit from the Simac Ladies Tour. The 27-year-old American, who rides for Canyon SRAM and is a two-time world champion, had a disappointing start to the Women’s WorldTour race, finishing only tenth in the opening time trial. It has now emerged that she completed the opening stage with a broken nose, leading to her withdrawal before the second stage.
The German team confirmed that Dygert sustained the injury before the opening time trial and decided to leave the race to recover properly. Reports on social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, suggest that the injury occurred due to an unfortunate accident with a door. This adds to the series of misfortunes and injuries that have hindered the American cyclist in recent years, despite her recent silver medal achievement at the World Championships in Zurich.
Dygert’s withdrawal was compounded by the absence of Maike van der Duin and Soraya Paladin, both of whom were unwell and unable to start the race. Consequently, Canyon SRAM is now competing with only two riders. This situation is particularly challenging for Zoë Bäckstedt, who claimed victory in the opening time trial. At the start of Stage 2, she would face the task of defending her leader’s jersey with just Alex Morrice as her remaining teammate. However, by the end of the stage, Morrice would DNF and leave Bäckstedt as the sole Canyon SRAM rider left in the race but also still in the yellow leader’s jersey.
