Rémi Cavagna opens up on the ‘fall that could have been the end of everything’
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Rémi Cavagna
French champion Rémi Cavagna is coming off a career-threatening fall during a training stint in Spain. The incident which took place at the Quick Step-Alpha Vinyl’s training camp on December 8 almost left Cavagna paralysed. The 26-year-old suffered a fractured L1 vertebra which required six screws.
The team’s riders were in the final stretch of their training ride when a small car pulled up from an inroad. The riders were blinded by a wall and had to slam the breaks at the very last moments. While the majority were able to avert a crash, three riders along with Cavagna and Mauri Vansevenant hit the car.
Rémi Cavagna broke his back with the impact while Vansevenant escaped with a broken thumb. The French champion was rushed to Hospital IMSKE Valencia where doctors treated his injury as they confirmed that Cavagna had no neurological damage.
“I escaped because my nerve was close by,” Rémi Cavagna
The Frenchman was lucky as the fall narrowly missed a nerve in his back. Six screws in Rémi Cavagna’s back to provide stability to the broken vertebrae. The fall and the surgery which followed meant Cavagna couldn’t sit on a racing bike for six weeks. Fortunately, the 26-year-old has done well on his path to recovery.
“I’m tough and normally always get up straight away, but this time I was completely blocked. I escaped because my nerve was close by. I understand that I might as well not have been able to walk anymore. That fall could have been the end of everything,” Cavagna told L’Equipe.
In general, back surgeries as such rules patients out for nearly six months as they are expected to immobilise their back and act with extreme caution. But Rémi Cavagna is not one to be deterred by such adversities. “Now I’m back at eighty percent of my potential. I shouldn’t cancel any of my goals for next season, I’ll just miss the base I normally lay in the winter.“
Cavagna shares that he is feeling much better and is expecting to return to the track by the end of January. The Tour de France and World Championships in Australia will be the two events the Frenchman will be looking to ace as he eyes a strong comeback.
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Anshuman Mahapatra
(1496 Articles Published)