Having broken his pelvis in mid-February and then fractured his wrist five and a half weeks ago, Steve Cummings has been forced to take a premature exit from another race. The Briton was one of a half-dozen riders who crashed close to the finish of yesterday’s second stage of the race, with he and Swiss team-mate Steve Morabito both being hurt.
The duo hoped to be able to start today’s stage, but the team has confirmed that both must miss the remainder of the race due to their injuries.
Aside from getting three stitches to his knee, Cummings landed on the same wrist he broke and must undergo x-rays later today to determine if it’s been fractured again.
Morabito will also have the same type of examination, having suffered a badly bruised left side plus road race. He is suffering from restricted movement today, and the team has said that its impossible for him to sit on the bike properly.
"It happened so fast I didn't even have time to brake," the Swiss rider explained. "It was a huge road and there were only 60 guys so it was a case of being in the right place at the wrong time."
He finished ninth overall last year and had hoped to ride strongly again, not least because his team captain Tejay Van Garderen is trying to win the race. "I really focused a lot on this race and was working hard to be in shape and ready for the last four days,” he said.
While Morabito’s frustration is clear, Cummings has even greater reason to feel blighted by bad luck. His season has been defined by minimal bursts of racing interrupted by far longer periods of injury. Still, he is putting a brave face on things.
"I've got experience at this now," he said. "So if my wrist is broken again, I'll just go on the trainer and it won't take me long to come back."
He’ll hope that things aren’t that serious, though, and that he will be able to resume racing sooner rather than later.