Despite some injuries and other problems, BORA Hansgrohe will keep their Tour de France team unchanged. So for 2020 they are rolling with Felix Grobschartner, Gregor Mühlberger, Lukas Postlberger, Emanuel Buchmann, Lennard Kamna, Daniel Oss, and Peter Sagan. It will be great to see them racing next week, won’t it? For the official word, please follow the jump.
BORA – hansgrohe’s Tour de France team remains unchanged
Despite the injuries they recently sustained in France and Italy, Buchmann, Schachmann and Mühlberger will take on the Tour de France, albeit under different conditions than originally planned.
“Emanuel’s bruises and hematomas have proven to be quite persistent. He had to take a complete break for a few days and thereby lost crucial training time. From a medical perspective, his injuries are following a normal time progression, so if this continues in a similar manner, we’ll be on the right track ahead of the Tour. Physically, however, he will certainly not be in optimal shape at this point.
The fracture to Max’s collarbone has developed very well over the last few days. We have the necessary stability to at least give it a try with him. He has been training on the road again for a few days now, and everything is proceeding according to our expectations. However, Max’s preparations were undoubtedly interrupted by this injury. Cycling is not only about having the legs – the rest of the body must also be in good shape.
Gregor likely emerged the least affected. We were able to exclude a severe injury of the wrist, which would have required extended immobilisation or even surgery. He is still experiencing pain, however, he is able to train again, with a special splint. All three riders have done a superb job with the intensive rehabilitation measures we have implemented over the last few days – this is, after all, also what makes a world-class athlete.” – Jan-Niklas Droste, Medical Team
“This has been a bitter setback. I actually thought that the Tour was over when I couldn’t get up on my own after the fall. But luckily nothing was broken. I concentrated on therapy last week and could only get back on the bike at the end of the week. Over the weekend, training didn’t go as I would have liked. This entire incident has really set me back. To suffer a fall like that was such a shame because I was in really good shape. At the Dauphiné, I was the strongest on the mountain behind Roglic, together with Pinot. Now there are a few question marks hanging over my head, especially since the race is about to kick off in earnest so soon. There’s no time for a transition, because on the second stage, we’ll already be heading into the mountains. We’ll just have to wait and see how far I can make it up there. I can only tackle the Tour from day to day now.” – Emanuel Buchmann
“Of course I would have liked different conditions. But I’m still happy that the team has confidence in me despite my injury, and has given me the opportunity to race the Tour. I’ve been training as well as possible over the last few days and I hope I’ll be able to really take on the race and deal with the pain.” – Maximilian Schachmann
