Shirin van Anrooij taken to hospital after crash at Cyclo-cross World Cup in Tabor

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Junior world champion sustains injury to arm caused by disc brake, says Telenet Baloise Lions

UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup
The crash at the elite women's race of the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup in Tabor (Image credit: Getty Images)

Shirin van Anrooij has been taken to hospital with injuries sustained in a crash during the elite women's race at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Cup in Tabor on Sunday. The junior world champion injured her arm and will undergo surgery to correct a wound caused by a piece of disc brake, according to her team Telenet Baloise Lions.

"Shirin Van Anrooij her forearm was injured by a piece of a disc brake in the crash following the start of the race. She will undergo surgery this evening. At this moment, it looks like no muscles or tendons are heavily damaged," the team stated in a post on Twitter.

"She is conscious, but I have never seen such a wound," Nys told reports from Wielerflits. "It is an open wound and there is also a fracture. Her hip didn't look good either. She also lost a lot of blood.

"Now she is in hospital with her mother. You do not want to experience this. The sad thing is that she also saw the gaping wound herself. It's really bad."

The crash happened at the start of the elite women's race and involved several riders including Loes Sels and Katie Compton

“I heard Shirin calling and had to look away, because it didn't look good. Very bizarre," Sels told Wielerflits. “They hooked together and I went on top of [the crash], too. My back was blocked because of that and it was over after the first round. I don't think it has ever happened in the cross before, such a heavy fall."

Van Anrooij won the junior world title at the UCI Cyclo-cross World Championships held in February in Dübendorf, Switzerland. She is also set to being her road racing season as a neo-pro with Trek-Segafredo in 2021. 

In Tabor, Van Anrooij's teammate Lucinda Brand won the elite women's race ahead of world champion Ceylin del Carmen Alvarado (Alpecin-Fenix), second place by 24 seconds, with Denise Betsema (Pauwels Sauzen-Bingoal) completing an all-Dutch podium, 32 seconds back.

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Kirsten Frattini
Kirsten Frattini
Deputy Editor

Kirsten Frattini is the Deputy Editor of Cyclingnews, overseeing the global racing content plan.

Kirsten has a background in Kinesiology and Health Science. She has been involved in cycling from the community and grassroots level to professional cycling's biggest races, reporting on the WorldTour, Spring Classics, Tours de France, World Championships and Olympic Games.

She began her sports journalism career with Cyclingnews as a North American Correspondent in 2006. In 2018, Kirsten became Women's Editor – overseeing the content strategy, race coverage and growth of women's professional cycling – before becoming Deputy Editor in 2023.