Sarah Düster out of World Championships
Sarah Düster has broken her pelvis on the eve of the World Championships in Geelong, Australia, leaving the German Women’s team with only five riders. Düster crashed into another rider who had fallen in front of her in the Herald Sun Cycling Classic on Sunday.
“I'm terribly sorry for Sarah and it is also bad for the team,” said trainer Thomas Liese. “But we have to accept it, and won't nominate a replacement. The athletes who are still in Germany have already ended their season and are surely not [in] form for
the Worlds. There is also the whole stress of traveling and jet lag, so it just doesn't make any sense.”
Düster has experienced disaster at the World Championships before. Last year in Switzerland, she was not allowed to participate, and was sent home from the Championships due to an administrative mistake by the German cycling federation (BDR).
“This is extremely tragic," said Udo Sprenger of BDR. “Sarah was the innocent victim of a crash at low speed. After our registration mishap last year, such a crash with so serious consequences is even more bitter. All of us in the team management are suffering
with her.”
Without Düster, the German team still has a good selection of strong favorites, with Judith Arndt and Ina-Yoko Teutenberg racing at the end of phenomenal seasons with HTC-Columbia, and Trixi Worrack, who won the Herald Sun Cycling Classic after her teammate
Düster crashed out.
“The quality is there in the team,” said Liese. “The other top riders are in absolute top form and I think that we can still do something with this team. Trixi rode a very strong race today and the others showed that they are in good form.”
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