It's good news for Michael Vanthourenhout after his team doctor confirmed he only suffered a 'partial dislocation of the shoulder joint' and avoided any fractures after crashing hard out of the lead on the final lap at the X2O Trofee cyclocross round in Kortrijk.
His Pauwels-Sauzen-Bingoal confirmed on X that this was a positive update on the European Champion as his injuries weren't as bad as originally feared, with a start in Dublin tomorrow still possible depending on how he recovers tonight.
"Hospital examination did reveal a partial dislocation of the shoulder joint around his right collarbone, but no fractures," said team doctor Frank De Winter.
"If recovery and the trip to Ireland go well, Michael will be back in action tomorrow in the World Cup race in Dublin," added Pauwels-Sauzen-Bingoal.
He was originally sent to hospital straight after the event, with his injuries looking quite bad as the Belgian was forced to abandon due to the crash and was left in obvious pain on the side of the course.
“Michael unfortunately had a bad crash - he's being examined in the local hospital right now,” said Pauwels-Sauzen-Bingoal on X. “Fingers crossed.”
Vanthourenhout lost control through a fast right-hand corner and stuck his right arm out to try and lessen the impact, but his hands seemed to get stuck in the ground at first and as he continued to fall, his shoulder slammed directly into the mud.
He immediately rolled off the course, writhing in pain and clutching his right shoulder, unable to even move his bike out of the way of Iserbyt and the rest of the chasers behind.
His Pauwels-Sauzen-Bingoal teammate Eli Iserbyt came through to victory after narrowly avoiding Vanthrourenhout’s bike on the course.
The pair utilised team tactics to distance Lars van der Haar (Baloise Trek Lions) as Iserbyt allowed his wheel to go, which seemed like the race-winning move when Van der Haar was unable to respond, but the crash forced Iserbyt into action.
“I saw that Michael was super good. We talked for a while and it was immediately clear to me that he was the better one,” said Iserbyt.
“Also on a technical level. In that area, we tried to hold off a very strong Lars. Then I saw Michael lying down. There was a bit of swearing, but I realized that I had to turn the switch immediately to achieve that victory myself.
The pair were meant to head to Dublin tomorrow for the next round of the Cyclocross World Cup, which now looks promising with Vanthourenhout's positive update from hospital.
“On that bend, there was only one track and the sun was low, so we didn't see much. He must have gone off track,” said Iserbyt.
“We rode quite quickly, it was diagonally downwards. I hope it doesn't turn out too bad for him, but it didn't look good. I heard he didn't ride any further.
"That's a shame. Hopefully, he can race tomorrow [in Dublin] because they were going to the airport together. I hope for the best.”
