Bad news filtered through to the BMC Racing Team after stage three of the Volta ao Algarve when doctors confirmed a broken pelvis for Steve Cummings. It was a change of fortune for the team’s new recruit as the accident happened on the same stage he won the previous year.
Cummings explains the crash happened when a rider in front of him had difficulty going around a bend. "We were going down a little hill and this guy came from under me and hooked my handlebars, I didn't even see it coming. You know what they say: what doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger."
It’s bad news for the former Barloworld and Team Sky rider as many had tipped him as one of the strongest riders in the team’s pre-season training camps. He is likely to miss a month of racing now, according to team doctor Giovanni Ruffini, but it set to resume training soon after surgery. “Consulting with the other team doctors, we think he'll have to be off his bike completely at least two weeks.”
Cummings has been active in the Portuguese race riding in support of teammates Greg van Avermaet, Tejay Van Garderen and Amaël Moinard. van Avermaet narrowly missed out on victory on the opening stage when he finished second behind Gianni Meersman (Lotto Belisol).
The plan yesterday was to get Moinard and Van Garderen positioned well for the day’s final mountain. The two men went on to finish sixteenth and twentieth, respectively.
“At the beginning of the climb, I was a little dropped,” Moinard said. “But I kept fighting, thinking I could maybe give Tejay a hand in the finale.” Van Garderen didn’t fare as well as he hoped, finishing one minute and two seconds back in twentieth place.
Cummings’ signings to BMC in the transfer window last year came as a surprise as the Briton left the team from his home country, Sky Procycling. If all goes according to plan with recovery, he is likely to feature in the team’s summer plans as they head to the Tour de France in defense of Cadel Evans’ title.