American aims to recover in time to try and win US cyclo-cross title
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Ryan Trebon (Cannondale Cyclocrossworld.com) riding well despite having missed the two previous races due to illness(Image credit: Dave McElwaine)
Ryan Trebon (Cannondale Cyclcrossworld.com) wins day one of the Mudfund Derby City Cup(Image credit: Dave McElwaine)
Ryan Trebon (Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com) was out taking a few practice laps(Image credit: Dave McElwaine/trailwatch.net)
Ryan Trebon has been sidelined from racing cyclo-cross after fracturing three ribs and two vertebrae in a crash while racing locally in Washington earlier this month. The Cannondale-Cyclocrossworld.com rider is hoping to make a quick recovery and even has his sights set on winning the national title at the USA Cycling Cyclo-cross Championships held in January in Austin, Texas.
"Missing out on a huge chunk of races in the beginning of the season is a big setback," Trebon told Cyclingnews. "I'm just going to try and salvage the season by trying to win the national championships.”
Trebon had a good start to the season with a second-place finish at the UCI C1 QianSen Trophy Cyclocross Yanqing Station in China on August 30. He returned to the US and was scheduled to compete in CrossVegas on September 10 but crashed in a local race in Vancouver, Washington, four days earlier.
Trebon said that his front wheel got stuck in the ruts in the sand on the first lap and he went over his handlebars, landing on his back. “I was going into this sand section pretty fast and took a new line that nobody had been riding,” he said. “I lost the front wheel in some deep sand and went over the handlebars pretty violently. I landed on my back and it knocked the wind out of me. It didn’t hurt too badly so I got up and thought about continuing on. Then the overall pain started to creep in.”
Trebon initially thought that he had broken a few ribs and would need two or three weeks of recovery time. He later found out that he broke three ribs and fractured his T7 and T8 vertebrae, in the middle section of his back, and will need a much more significant amount recovery time.
“It turns out that not only did I break a few ribs but I have two compression fractures in the vertebrate of my mid back,” Trebon said. “I’m going to be off the bike for an additional four weeks.
“I’m hanging in there. My mobility is getting better. I’m supposed to be wearing a brace but it presses heavily on my ribs and is far too uncomfortable to wear at the moment.”
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He was scheduled to compete in a number of US cyclo-cross events early this season including CrossVegas, Boulder Cup, Trek CXC Cup and Rapha Super Cross Gloucester p/b Great Brewers, all in September.
Given the recovery time he needs to heal from his injuries, he won’t be back on his bike until October, maybe even November. At that time he will shift his focus toward the national cyclo-cross championship title.
“I hope to start riding again in the middle of October and racing in November,” he said. “My plans and targets have changed dramatically. I’m honestly just trying to focus on recovering and building towards nationals."
Kirsten Frattini is the Deputy Editor of Cyclingnews, overseeing the global racing content plan.
Kirsten has a background in Kinesiology and Health Science. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's biggest races, reporting on the WorldTour, Spring Classics, Tours de France, World Championships and Olympic Games.
She began her sports journalism career with Cyclingnews as a North American Correspondent in 2006. In 2018, Kirsten became Women's Editor – overseeing the content strategy, race coverage and growth of women's professional cycling – before becoming Deputy Editor in 2023.
