American headed home soon, Degenkolb will need additional surgery
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Chad Haga has been aggressive in his debut Giro(Image credit: Bettini Photo)
Chad Haga (Giant-Alpecin)(Image credit: Giant-Alpecin)
John Degenkolb gets his cobble for winning Paris-Roubaix(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Warren Barguil (Giant-Alpecin)(Image credit: Tim de Waele/TDWSport.com)
Ramon Sinkeldam (Giant-Alpecin)(Image credit: Bert Geerts/dcp-bertgeerts@xs4all.nl)
American Chad Haga is recovering faster than expected from the injuries sustained after a car crashed into him and his Giant-Alpecin teammates while they were training in Calpe on Saturday.
Haga was airlifted from the scene with deep gashes to his face, neck and chest that required surgery, but a fracture to his orbital bone near his right eye will not need surgical intervention, the team announced today.
“Now the swelling has decreased and surgery won’t be necessary. Chad will be able to leave the hospital and travel home to Gerona, Spain, in the next few days," said team doctor Anko Boelens.
His teammate John Degenkolb was not so fortunate. The Milan-San Remo and Paris-Roubaix winner's left index finger was nearly severed, and while doctors repaired it this weekend, he will need additional work to regain full functionality.
“John’s left index finger was damaged in the accident and he will have additional surgery in Germany. As a professional athlete, he needs the functionality back in his finger, and the recovery time for that is extremely difficult to predict," Boelens said.
It is expected that Degenkolb will miss the Spring Classics.
A 73-year-old British citizen was charged with reckless driving for travelling on the wrong side of the road and crashing into the team.
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Frenchman Warren Barguil described the chaos: “Only one of us managed to avoid the car, and it was he who called the emergency services. He took an arm warmer and used that to make a sling for one of the riders."
Barguil will undergo surgery on Thursday to repair his fractured scaphoid bone in his hand and will need approximately six weeks of recovery.
Raymond Sinkeldam found out on Monday that he had a fractured scapula but will not require surgery. Max Walscheid underwent surgery to his tibia and thumb in Germany, and will be out for "some months" according to the team.
Fredrik Ludvigsson avoided any fractures, but suffered contusions. Boelens said he is progressing well: "Fredrik has already tried his first minutes on the home trainer and is showing good signs of recovery.”
