Chloรฉ Dygert wonโt take part in the upcoming UCI road or track world championships as a result of her continuing rehabilitation from her left leg injury. The USA national time trial champion and member of the bronze medal-winning team at the Tokyo Olympics has ended her season in order to further recover from injuries sustained in a crash at last yearโs UCI Road World Championships.
At the Tokyo Olympics, Chloรฉ was part of the USAโs team in the womenโs road race and finished seventh in the individual time trial before switching her attention to the track. After being part of the silver medal-winning team for the USA in the team pursuit at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Chloรฉ aimed one step higher in Tokyo. Following the qualifying and first-round finals, the USA team set an American Record and won the bronze medal final against Canada.
On returning to the USA, Chloรฉ took a small break and planned to join CANYON//SRAM Racing for the remaining race calendar in Europe before aiming for the rainbow jersey in the ITT world championships in Flanders later in September. Following some time off the bike, Chloรฉ returned to training, but the pain in her leg remained and her team made the decision to end her season.
โIn only my second ride back after the Olympics I had a lot of pain in my leg after 500m and after 30 minutes I turned around and went home,โ describes Chloรฉ.
โAfter this, I knew that I couldnโt train and prepare at my best for these next races. To race at 100% and lose because you were beaten by someone faster or simply better, thatโs one thing. To be on the start line at 80%, and feeling like youโre letting yourself or your teammates down, thatโs another.โ
Chloรฉ continues, โNow, itโs about the bigger picture. As hard and frustrating as it is, I have to say that next year, and the years after that are more important. I know weโre going in the right direction, itโs just a different path than what we thought. Iโm grateful to my support team at USA Cycling, Red Bull and CANYON//SRAM Racing for their understanding.โ
Gary Sutton, USA Womenโs Track Endurance Cycling Coach at USAC, says โChloรฉ was an integral part of the USA team at the Tokyo Olympics. Although she wasnโt at 100%, her contribution to the teamโs success was vital. To have recovered to this level so quickly is itself a great achievement. โโTo take a step back right now to ultimately take a big step forward is sensible, and itโs clear itโs the right thing to do physically and mentally for Chloรฉ. Of course, we look forward to helping Chloรฉ with her further recovery.โ
CANYON//SRAM Racing Team Manager, Ronny Lauke says, โWe can see that Chloรฉ is not yet ready to compete in four-hour road races on the Womenโs World Tour level week after week. However, she is a young, and very ambitious athlete who we are confident will have her best days coming. Itโs a pity weโll need to postpone her first race with the team until a later point until when she is ready, but after the heavy injury she had to deal with since her crash in Imola it requires further focus on rehabilitation.โ
โChloรฉโs journey and fight to come back in time to become national ITT champion and Olympic bronze medallist with her national team in the team pursuit prove what an excellent athlete Chloรฉ is. We will support her to become 100% healthy and when the time has come we will bring her back to racing. We are very much looking forward to that day,โ adds Ronny.
Chloรฉ will now take some weeks completely off the bike, and following this, a more detailed plan for her return to training and racing will be made.