Australian racer Brodie Chapman has confirmed that she suffered a fractured pelvis in a crash at the Tour of Flanders on Sunday.
The 35-year-old was tackling the race for the first time in four years, having finished ninth on her previous appearance in 2022. However, her day in the saddle last weekend concluded with a far more unpleasant outcome.
Chapman went down with 53km to go of the 164km Monument after being left with nowhere to go on the side of the road as the peloton raced towards climb number seven of the race, the Eikenberg.
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She somersaulted over a hedgerow and hit the ground hard. Initial checks in a local hospital cleared her of any major injury, but, sadly for Chapman, she did suffer a fracture in the fall.
"Thanks Flanders Classics for another mythical experience. Had been a few years since lining up at De Ronde and we had a strong team to play the game. I had an early role to protect the team but ended up getting pushed off the road and had a strange crash (alone) as we battled for position into a key point," Chapman wrote in an Instagram post.
"That's racing but now after some scans it's clear I have a pelvic fracture, something the initial hospital dismissed.
"The pain was pretty bad and I knew at the moment I hit the ground something happened to my hip. So another confirmation that advocating for yourself and how you know your body pays off! On the plus side glad to not have any other injuries."
Chapman, who earlier this spring raced to fifth overall at the Vuelta a Extremadura Femenina and second at the Australian Time Trial Championships, will now head home to Andorra to recover from her injury.
It's unclear when she'll be able to return to racing, but in the meantime, she'll spend plenty of time on the indoor trainer, she said.
"Thanks to my medical team, staff and riders at UAE Team ADQ for pushing for answers and looking after me so much these last few weeks in Belgium. Starting the journey home to Andorra tomorrow and will take a few recovery days in sunny Spain for the healing," she wrote.
"The main goal now is just taking it day by day, managing pain and shifting the goals for the season. Of course disappointed but I'm lucky to not crash too often so I’m confident I'll come back at the right time.
"Thanks for all your messages of support, probably a bunch of MyWhoosh training days and Spanish lessons in my future. Until next race."
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