Frenchman unable to defend marathon national title
French Marathon Champion Thomas Dietsch before the start. (Image credit: Armin Küstenbrück)
Thomas Dietsch was missing from the start line of the French marathon national championship this past weekend in Ornans after injuring himself in a crash while training the previous day.
The former French national champion flew over the handlebars and crashed on a descent studded with large rocks. He landed hard and fractured his upper right arm.
"What happened, I cannot say exactly," said Dietsch afterwards. "I only know that suddenly I was going over the handlebars and 10 feet later, my head and shoulders took the impact."
"I felt super on my bike in the days before. The course in Ornans is technically very demanding, so I knew it was important to view and practice the downhills." He was pre-riding when the accident occurred.
"This is very, very hard for me," said the Team Bulls rider. "My head is completely empty. In the past few weeks, I've have prepared especially for the French Championship and was prepared to defend my jersey."
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