Lene Byberg (Specialized) could only manage 22nd place today (Image credit: Epic Rides)
Lene Byberg is having a tough late season, and it didn't get any better this week after she broke a bone in a her leg during training for mountain bike Worlds. The injury, just a few days before the elite women's cross country world championship race, will keep her out of the competition.
The Norwegian was pre-riding the technical course in Champery, Switzerland, when she had to step down suddenly, according to her trade team Specialized Racing. While she didn't actually crash, she heard a snap after her foot made contact with the ground.
Still able to walk afterwards, Byberg noticed the pain increasing throughout the day and sought further medical treatment, which revealed she had cracked her fibula.
The fibula is the smaller of the two bones in the lower leg. It is not a weight bearing bone; the tibia does that job.
Byberg had a rough end to the World Cup season. At the penultimate round in the Czech Republic, she said she did not have a good day and finished 20th.
She elected not to compete in the final round in Italy so as to rest up for Worlds, but while she was there, her brand new prototype Specialized Fate bike was stolen. It was never recovered.
Byberg won the silver medal at the 2009 World Championships in Canberra, Australia.
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Sue George is an editor at Cyclingnews. She coordinates all of the site's mountain bike race coverage and assists with the road, 'cross and track coverage.
