Talented Lidl-Trek youngster Albert Withen Philipsen is out of action and lucky to avoid serious injury after suffering a major training crash last week.
The 19-year-old Dane is one of the rising stars on the German WorldTour squad. He's a Paris-Roubaix Espoirs and Course de la Paix Juniors champion. This season, his second in the pro ranks, has taken top 10s at Amstel Gold Race and the Tour de Romandie.
He's set for some time out of action, though, after suffering a fall which, in his words, was "the first time I've ever truly been scared after a crash."
Philipsen fell while tackling a descent at 80kph last Friday. He stated that he suffered memory loss as a result of the fall, which left him with cuts and bruising to his face, injuries to his hands, right elbow, and right leg.
"Sometimes shit happens, and the last few days have been pretty rough…" he wrote on Instagram.
"I had a nasty training crash on Friday. I don’t remember much – one minute I was descending at 80kph and the next thing I remember was lying on the ground – alone, half conscious, trying to use the small window of adrenaline to call the emergency services while blood was dripping down my face.
"I think this is the first time I’ve ever truly been scared after a crash. Fortunately, I was found quickly, and a group of people did an amazing job handling the situation until the ambulance arrived."
Philipsen thanked those with him at the time of the crash for their help and stated that he was lucky to avoid any broken bones in the crash. He did, however, suffer a "heavy hit" to his head.
"A special thank you to [former pro] Amund Grøndahl Jansen, [Trinity racer] Henry Coote, and everyone else who was there — you all made a huge difference And a big thanks as well to [Lidl-Trek coach] Xabier Zabalo for being there at the hospital, and to everyone at Lidl-Trek for all the support.
"I feel extremely lucky to be back home with no internal injuries, apart from a heavy hit to the head, and no broken bones – even though I’m still pretty banged up right now.
"You know it was a proper crash when the clinic runs out of bandages after two days. Recovery will take some time, but I’ll come back stronger."
It remains to be seen how long Philipsen will be out of action after the crash, though after such a heavy impact, it can be expected that he'll remain away from the peloton for some time.
