Only days after saying that Oliver Zaugg would have knee surgery the end of the season, Team Gerolsteiner has moved the date of his operation up to next week. Zaugg had to drop out of the Giro d'Italia due to problems with sitting on his saddle, but he also had pain in his left knee, caused by an inflamed bursa.
"I probably sat on my bike differently the last few stages," Zaugg, 26, said, causing an old injury to inflame the bursa. "The doctors say that the scar of the old injury are responsible for the bursitis, and advise me to have the operation."
The small Swiss climber will go under the knife Monday at the orthopaedic clinic in Cravesano, by Lugano. He will have a three to four week break. "When I have the operation now, then hopefully I will be fit again for the second half of the season," Zaugg said.
His teammate Tim Klinger, 22, will also have to sit out a couple of weeks with an irritated tendon in his thigh, a problem he has had for years. His doctor has ordered him to take a four-week break, complete with physical therapy and special strength training.
"It is bitter, but this is only chance, if I want to ride pain-free this year," Klinger said. "In any case, I don't want to carry this problem with me the whole year."
