The last race of the season is history, and it is time to take stock. In the last week I did some intensive team building with my team Bora-hansgrohe in Lienz, Austria. Those days were good for the whole team. In addition to a lot of meetings, where we of course looked towards the next season, we were also athletically active, including downhill. But don't worry, nobody got injured and we had a lot of fun.
Today is the start of the six-day Gree-Tour of Guangxi. I am especially happy to be here at the start. Not just because as a land, China is always a real adventure, but also because after the many throwbacks this season, I have now worked myself into a performance level that makes me confident for this race.
Actually I wanted to be in Canada now and ride the two races in Quebec and Montreal this weekend. Instead, I am home and happy that I am almost healthy again. The last weeks I have had to fight a persistent infection. With my eye on the World Championships, I was probably back on the bike too soon and had a relapse.
If you were underway on your bike in Thüringen last week, then you might have seen me on the road. My hand has healed so well that I can finally use it for training on the road again. I started training on the rollers again only six days after my operation, to keep my training loss as small as possible. But since about a week I have been out in the fresh air again.
It is supposed to be six weeks until my hand is fully healed again. That doesn't mean that I have to wait that long to get back on the bike, but I definitely won't be able to race again until after that. I will do what I can to get back in shape again. Meanwhile I evaluate the crash in the ITT in Pau soberly. Crashes happens in our sport.