After an excellent season riding for Specialized Off-Road Racing, Schreurs had been one of the favourites to at least reach the podium at the World Championships in Nannup, Western Australia. However, with around 50km of the race remaining, the Dutch woman’s wheel got caught in a rut, causing her to crash hard and forcing her out of the race.
After being transferred to hospital in Perth, she was found to have suffered multiple fractures to her neck and spine, along with broken ribs and a broken collarbone.
After multiple surgeries and 11 days confined in hospital, she was allowed out, but she was only given the all-clear to travel home earlier this week, though she was forced to wear a neck brace on the journey.
"Finally, after weeks in Australia, I’ve got the green light to fly home," she wrote in a social media post. "An "off-season" in Australia normally sounds pretty exotic, but this wasn’t quite how I had pictured it.
"Between little walks, fresh beach air, sand between my toes, hours of audiobooks, colouring books and lots of short, one-hour naps, I tried to make the most of the good moments while being 'stuck' in Perth."
She went on to praise her fiancé, who has remained with her through her recovery in Australia. "He’s been an absolute saint, taking care of me in every possible way and, most importantly, being there through the low moments, the ones you’ll never see in any picture.
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"Now we’re heading to the Netherlands, where I can finally see doctors and physios to get the right help and support for my rehab. Not exactly how I had planned, but one step closer to getting back on track."
Schreurs’ rise in elite gravel racing came after a stalled road career and time spent working as a soigneur for various Women’s WorldTour teams. She rode as a privateer in 2024, then spent a year with SD Worx-Protime, riding a mixed gravel and road programme before moving to the Specialized Off-Road team for 2026.
This year alone, she won five races from 13 starts, with ninth place her lowest placing, taking the top spot overall in the Gravel Earth Series. The UCI World Championships, which was eventually won by Schreurs’ compatriot Marianne Vos, was the only race she failed to finish.
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A recent addition to the Cyclingnews staff, Owen Rogers is an experienced journalist, working as a freelancer covering the sport for various magazines and websites for more than 10 years.
Initially concentrating mainly on the women's sport, he has covered hundreds of race days on the ground and interviewed some of the sport's biggest names.
Living near Cambridge in the UK, when he's not working you'll find him either riding his bike or playing drums.
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