German team pursuit members Nikias Arndt, Henning Bommel, Stefan Schafer and Jakob Steigmiller compete during qualifying (Image credit: AFP)
The track World Cup meet in Cali, Colombia, is not going well for the German team, and the meet itself hasn't even started. A training crash took out three of the team's riders, while two team officials were victims of an armed robbery.
Sprinter Joachim Eilers collided with teammate Robert Förstemann, and Eilers took down half of the four-man pursuit team with him including Lucas Liss and Henning Bommel. “Joachim has a deep cut on his right knee and some nasty bruises, but didn't have to go to the hospital,” said national sprint trainer Detlef Uibel.
Bommel “is doing pretty well. He had some circulation problems, but could fully train. Liss was hit a little harder. He stretched the inner ligament on his knee and right now can't use it fully,” said their national trainer, Sven Meyer. “And in addition to the usual scrapes, he also has a bruise on his hip.”
In addition, team doctor Olaf Peter and trainer Volker Tzscheetsch were held up one evening when they were underway in the city. They were threatened with a gun, and the thieves took everything they could.
The meet starts on Thursday, December 1, and runs through Sunday, December 4.
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