Niels Albert will be riding in the cyclocross World Cup race on Sunday in Roubaix, France. An injection into the skin near his broken rib has relieved some of the pain.
Albert was initially reluctant to such treatment. “He reacted well to the injection,” Albert’s manager Christoph Roodhooft told Sportwereld. “Niels was able to train on Thursday and felt less pain. He will surely start Sunday in Roubaix to defend his chances in the World Cup.”
Albert fell in the Belgium Championships, when a spectator took him out. While Albert thinks it was a Nys fan who did it intentionally in one of the decisive phases in the race, the ‘fan’ claimed to be more of an Albert supporter and said he slipped on the ice. Nys has expressed his dissatisfaction about the incident.
Albert had some choice words after the race for Nys. The two had a phone conversation a few days later, where Albert apologized to Nys. The two talked at length about possible solutions and plan to come up with suggestions for their national federation.
While in some cases, a double barrier can be used to keep spectators at arm’s length, Albert was realistic. He said that neither banning beer nor having stewards everywhere will do any good. “Cyclocross is a people’s sport and that has to stay that way. Much more than sensibilize the crowd we cannot do.”