Soler out of hospital after four months

Juan Mauricio Soler was released from hospital Friday, four months after a crash in the Tour de Suisse left him with severe head injuries.  The Movistar rider is expected to remain in Spain for rehabilitation for a month before finally returning to his home in Colombia.

“We are very happy because today there is a further step in Mauricio's recovery,” his wife, Patricia Flores, told the Colombian website revistamundociclistico.com. “This is a very important day for which all his friends, supporters and families have anxiously awaited. Mauricio is getting better and this fills us with joy after so much uncertainty during this time.”

Soler was in second place overall when he crashed on the sixth stage of the Tour de Suisse in mid-June. He hit a curb and flew into a fence, suffering a severe head trauma and cerebral edema plus multiple fractures and bruising. He was placed in an induced coma to aid recovery.   In July he was moved to the hospital in Pamplona, Spain.

He must stay in Spain for at least a month for rehabilitation at the hospital.  “It seems a long time but really it is little after having endured so much in the last few tough months,” Flores said.

As to his physical condition, she noted that “the accident left many injuries.”  Soler has ankle problems, and cannot walk alone because of dizziness, although he can walk for up to 25 minutes at a time.

Emotionally he is coping well, with Flores saying he is “so full of joy and motivation. He has a lot of mixed feelings, but he knows that every day is better.  He had done everything possible and will to recover one hundred percent. Today for example he was discharged after a few hours in the morning but chose to stay at the clinic until the afternoon to complete his therapy session.”