Team Saxo Bank just released an update on Jens Voigt and suggest that he may be ready for a comeback as early as the Tour of Missouri. Voigt is apparently recovering well after is 80kph crash in the 2009 Tour de France. He fell face first descending the Col du Petit-Saint-Bernard during the 16th stage of the Tour.
“I remember absolutely nothing from the crash. The last thing I remember is that we just made it over the climb and Bjarne (Riis) asked me to drop back in the group and let the others pull in the chase before the final. I was then planning on retrieving bottles for my teammates. The next thing I remember I was awake in an ambulance where my very first thoughts were: Why am I here? I want to go back to the race. I want to go to Paris with the team. But soon the pain told me that there was a reason why I was on my way to the hospital. Apparently I had landed face first with an ugly fracture of my cheek bone as a result. If I had crashed without my helmet the outcome would have been far more severe. My scull would have fractured instead, says Jens Voigt
More on his recovery and pictures after the break…
Voigt says he has gained an even greater perspective on life since the crash and the rehabilitation.
“At the rehabilitation center I was in good hands. My brain was tested in so many ways and my body was re-generated by doing water gymnastics. But at the center I was forced to turn the focus away from myself as I witnessed the fates many times worse than my own that I felt guilty about having escaped so easily from the crash,†Voigt said. “After doing 80 km/h hitting the asphalt head first I got away without permanent injuries. And here I was walking around watching a father motionless sitting in a wheelchair, from which he was fed by his wife after a fatal fall from the chair he was standing on while changing a light bulb. It certainly provides food for thought”.
Voigt says the experience won’t keep him off the bike. “I was eager to participate in the Tour of Denmark but the doctors and Bjarne wisely asked me not to go. However, I will hopefully get the green light next week by the doctors to train at full speed again, and I hope to do the Tour of Missouri from September 7th. First of all in order to convince myself that I am still able to compete. But not least because I want to get out there and show the world and my fans that I am ok and I appreciate the support I have received during my absenceâ€Â.
