Wednesday’s Flèche Wallonne Femmes will start without 2010 winner, and outstanding favourite, Emma Pooley (Garmin-Cervélo) as the British champion has broken her collarbone. The 28-year-old sustained the injury in a crash during a training ride close to her home in Zurich, Switzerland, and initially hoped that she would be able to race regardless; additional medical examination ruled this out however.
“The health of the athletes is the most important thing for us, so we want Emma to focus on her recovery,” said Garmin-Cervélo director Theo Maucher. “While we wish Emma could be with us, the team is very motivated for next week’s race.”
Pooley has been on the form of her life so far this season, winning the Trofeo Alfredo Binda, the first round of the World Cup, after a 70km solo break. She followed this up two weeks later with an excellent tenth place in the Ronde van Vlaanderen, which is a race that she is totally unsuited for.
Nobody had any answer to the Briton’s acceleration on the Mur de Huy at the finish of last year’s Flèche, and form this season pointed towards the likelihood of a repeat performance. A repeat win might even have seen her take back the World Cup lead from Ronde winner Annemiek van Vleuten.
“It’s a clean break, so it won’t require any surgery, which is good. But of course I’m really disappointed not to be able to race Flèche Wallonne,” said Pooley. “It’s a great race, and one I always look forward to. I would have loved to contest my title. I’m sure that the team will do very well, everyone is motivated and I wish them all the luck. I’ll be cheering for them at home – I just hope they show it on TV so I can watch it!”
Pooley is reportedly already back on her bike doing some low speed riding but the team expects her to be out of competition for at least 2-3 weeks. Thankfully, Pooley’s main target for the season will be the Giro d’Italia in July, but the enforced lay off could jeopardise her performance, or even prevent her appearance, in the Tour of California Time Trial Challenge in Solvang, California, where she would be afforded a rare opportunity to show off her time trial rainbow jersey.
The absence of Pooley from Flèche arguably hands the advantage back to three-time winner Marianne Vos who, after her masterful win in Sunday’s Ronde van Drenthe, will now be odds on favourite for a record fourth victory. The Garmin-Cervélo team has not been left toothless though, as Sharon Laws finished 11th last year, having spent the race working for Pooley, while Noemi Cantele was fifth in 2009.
Garmin-Cervélo team for la Flèche Wallonne Femmes:
Lizzie Armitstead, Noemi Cantele, Jesse Daams, Sharon Laws, Lucy Martin and Carla Ryan