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Stefan Küng has spoken for the primary time about his horrible crash through the last few kilometres of the European time trial championships in September, which noticed the Swiss rider smash straight into the obstacles, fracturing his cheekbone and hand and ending his season.
Küng additionally, notably, suffered concussion within the stunning spill however shortly remounted and continued on to the end, the place he positioned eleventh, regardless of being coated in blood and sporting a bashed-up helmet.
The choice by Swiss Biking and the race organisers to permit the 29-year-old to complete the time trial whereas concussed and badly injured generated an enormous quantity of controversy within the days after the race, as fellow execs, pundits, and followers raised considerations concerning the welfare of riders concerned in related nasty collisions.
> “Should not have finished”: Boss of Swiss cycling team admits they got Stefan Küng crash wrong
Küng’s national federation later apologised for the incident, with Swiss Biking’s sports activities supervisor Patrick Muller conceding that the Groupama-FDJ rider “shouldn’t have completed this race”, however that – amidst the chaos of the time trial – it was “tough to evaluate the seriousness of the accidents”.
In the meantime, others argued that Küng ought to have been warned by his workforce concerning the quickly approaching obstacles, stopping the crash within the first place, whereas former UCI president Brian Cookson called for a crackdown on what he called the “crazy” trend of head-down time trialling adopted by the Swiss specialist and lots of of his colleagues in recent times.
Nonetheless, in an interview with SRF, Küng argued that the high-speed nature of time trialling, and its accompanying aero place, can result in errors.
“I believe it was a guiding downside. Throughout a time trial I’m mainly blind, I can solely see a couple of metres forward because of the place I’ve to carry and I’ve to belief the indications that come through radio from the workforce automotive,” Küng stated.
“We have checked out it once more, however it all occurred in a short time. Throughout a time trial I cowl 50/60 metres of street in a couple of seconds, so if I make a mistake instantly I’m on the bottom with out realising it.”
The 29-year-old additionally revealed that, within the chaos that adopted the race, he misplaced his marriage ceremony ring and has nonetheless not been capable of finding it – and that the concussion has impacted his reminiscence of the day.
“The marriage ring is gone. Within the end photographs, I’m nonetheless carrying it on my finger. In St. Gallen, when the forged was eliminated, it was not there,” he stated.
“I requested the assorted medical doctors who handled me, however to no avail. I definitely don’t bear in mind in the event that they reduce it within the first few hours within the hospital, perhaps as a result of my fingers have been swelling.
“I actually lack reminiscence throughout this section.”
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