Maddy Nutt had been putting a solid run of form on display on the run into The Traka 360 and at 100km in was one minute behind the lead group at the flagship European gravel race and in a solid chase, but then she crashed to the ground when another rider fell in front of her.
Nutt's lead in this season included a second overall and stage win at Sahara Gravel, a win the UCI Gravel World Series round in Brazil and her last hit out was the 200km Dirty Reiver, which she also won. Still, it looked like it could have been race over at 100km into the day of racing at the Gravel Earth Series event, but the British rider was not inclined to give up easily after all the work that had gone in, especially not when she was sitting within the top ten.
"My bike was absolutely fine, which I'm shocked about to be honest given the impact, so I got back on the bike, started riding again and then I could just feel something wasn't right, but I didn't know exactly what it was and it wasn't painful enough to force me to stop,” Nutt told Cyclingnews in Girona.
"I also think adrenaline in situations like that pushes you through any kind of pain and I also think I've got quite a high pain threshold, clearly, so a combination of different stuff."
Following the race, an x-ray revealed that while Nutt had no broken bones there was a partial ligament tear in her AC joint. It certainly wasn't an easy task to nurse her shoulder through with that injury, especially with so many hours over brutal terrain ahead, Nutt thought she would give it a try.
"I had some painkillers and had a chit chat and just said I'm gonna try and keep going whilst I'm still in a top 10 position," Nutt said. "I just kind of kept pushing on the day but we then hit a hike-a-bike section, that's when it was really, really hard because it was so steep I had to use both arms to push the bike up."
Nursing her shoulder through, and with the help of her suspension fork which she said reduced the impact of the rough terrain on her shoulder, Nutt crossed the line of the 360km race in seventh after 14 hours and 26 minutes on the bike, much of it with an injured shoulder.
"I was debating it, should I pull out, and I was like, 'actually if I still can come seventh then it's probably worth keeping riding around'," said Nutt.
However, after heading to the podium to celebrate with all the other top 10 finisher in a sling, it's now time to take it easy for a bit.
"I think I'll probably only miss one race," said Nutt. "I just don't think it's a good idea to race in two weeks and I need to take a week in a sling, not doing anything, to let it start to recover, and then I should be able to ride gently."
"I think my next race will be Unbound now," said the rider who is taking on the 200 mile event on May 31.
