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Thursday, September 24, 2020
Defending champion Chloé Dygert crashes over the railing in a corner, the pro cycling world championship time trial is a minor matter. The American is conscious after her accident. Winner Anna van der Breggen describes the fall as “the worst that can happen.”
The severe fall of defending champion Chloé Dygert overshadowed the start of the World Road Championships in Imola, Italy. The 23-year-old American was in the gold field with a clear best time when she veered off the road around a curve and crashed into a guardrail at high speed.
Images released later showed severe injuries: Dygert had cut his entire left knee, and blood was running heavily. “She is conscious and speaking,” the American association wrote on Twitter. This is all that is known so far. Until now, there is no more detailed information on the health of the favorite.
Dygert was treated by various emergency services in the bend ditch and then taken to an ambulance on a stretcher. At the finish line of the Imola Formula 1 circuit and at the awards ceremony that followed, the mood was consequently subdued. After his crash, Dygert could not be seen on the TV picture for several minutes, the international signal from then on only showed active cyclists.
Best German in fourth place
“The worst thing that can happen is a fall like that. I’m really sorry for you, it’s really bad,” said Anna van der Breggen, who won the race. The first world time trial title for the Dutch woman and the medal for former world champion Lisa Brennauer from Allgäu, who was lost by just 14 seconds, became a minor affair at the “Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari”.
“There was still a brief disappointment, I wanted so badly to win a medal, especially when you’re so close,” Brennauer said. Initially, the rivals had not noticed anything about the serious fall of the defending champion. Brennauer was already in fourth place in the meantime. After Dygert’s accident, it seemed for a moment that it might be enough for the bronze medal, but in the end Ellen van Dijk (Netherlands) was also ahead of the German.
“But I’m happy that I was able to get this far again. I’m totally happy and that counts,” said Brennauer, who won the 2014 World Championship gold and 2015 World Championship bronze in the individual time trial. Her German teammate Mieke Kröger also achieved a respectable result in eighth place, while Swiss Marlen Reusser took silver. On Friday (2:25 pm / Eurosport / ZDF-Livestream) the men must face the same course.
