Due to an ongoing hip injury sustained during one of the worst crashes of his cycling career in Copenhagen last month, Chris Hoy has been forced to withdraw from competing in the UCI Track Cycling World Championships, which take place in Pruszkow, Poland on 25-29 March 2009.
Since the high-speed crash, which happened in the closing stages of the World Cup Keirin Final two and a half weeks ago, Chris has modified his training programme and received ongoing treatment to his right hip. He was advised today by the GB medical team that he should stop training and riding his bike, in order to allow his hip enough time to heal properly and to avoid further damage.
Chris said: ‘I’m hugely disappointed that I’m not going to be riding in the Worlds. I’ve been really lucky in my career so far and this is the first time I’ve had to miss a major championship event due to injury. I’m glad it didn’t happen this time last year and I’m still totally focused on being in the best shape possible for London 2012. This doesn’t affect my long term aim of defending my titles and I’ll hopefully be back in training and competition in the near future. I wish the team the best of luck in Poland.’
Dr Roger Palfreeman, the GB team doctor, explained: ‘This type of injury is quite serious and pretty rare. It’s called a degloving injury and it’s when the skin and the underlying tissue and fat get separated from the underlying muscle. The tissues are not bound down as they should be, which has created a space for fluid to collect in. The fluid can be drained off, but every time Chris exercises or gets on his bike, the tissues are tearing again and the fluid’s coming back in to that space. He needs to give himself a decent amount of time to let the injury heal, which is why we’ve advised him not to compete in the Worlds.’