While it will be another day or two before doctors can say that he’s definitely out of danger, Team Movistar rider Mauricio Soler is showing encouraging signs of improvement, less than 24 hours after being brought to the Hospital Sankt Gallen.
The Colombian rider had a very heavy crash soon after the start of yesterday’s stage of the Tour de Suisse. He had started the day’s race second overall, 54 seconds behind Damiano Cunego (Lampre-ISD), but his bid to regain the yellow jersey ended when he hit a fence and had to be airlifted to hospital.
According to Saxo Bank SunGard rider Baden Cooke, Soler crashed when the road narrowed. “All of a sudden there was a footpath with a 5-centimeter edge dropping down to the road level,” he told AP. “Soler had no time to brake at all.”
There was a lot of concern and race organisers briefly neutralised the event. Fortunately, his team is feeling a little less worried than before, and describes his condition as ‘stable though serious.’
“The news today is good,” said Alfredo Zuñiga, the team’s doctor at the Swiss race. “Mauricio is still at the ICU and his progress is favourable. The cerebral edema, which is the most worrying thing, has gone through a slight improvement and that's why we have to stay optimistic, even though we have to keep reservations because recovery in such processes is unpredictable.”
He pointed out that the first 48 to 72 hours remains a danger period, but in getting over the initial hours without further swelling in his brain, his situation is somewhat reassuring.
Soler’s crash led to a wide spread of injuries, including a fractured ankle and a collapsed lung. The latter is improving. “The progress of his pneumothorax has been good,” he said. “He also has multiple injuries and fractures, but the thing the doctors are more focused on now is the edema [fluid in the brain]. He's being cared by the best of hands and the attention from all the people working at the Hospital St. Gallen is phenomenal.”
Soler has had a long period of injury, but things appeared to be on the up this week when he won the second stage of the Swiss tour. It was his first victory in almost four years. He had been hoping to ride the Tour de France but that unfortunately won’t happen this year.