Ellen van Dijk fractures ankle in crash 7 weeks before Paris Olympics

Dutch rider to undergo surgery and return to training in two weeks

08:45, Sunday 9th June 2024

GCN

The GCN team

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Ellen van Dijk during the opening TTT at the Vuelta Femenina

Ellen van Dijk (Lidl-Trek) has been involved in a crash in training and suffered a fracture to her right ankle that will require surgery, seven weeks ahead of her major season goal, the time trial at the Paris Olympic Games.

Van Dijk’s Lidl-Trek team revealed the news of her crash and injury on Friday evening, confirming that it had happened earlier in the week whilst the Dutchwoman was training. She was taken to hospital where the fracture was found.

She will be operated on in the coming days, and the teams around her expect her to resume preparation for Paris promptly.

“[The surgery] will be performed early next week by a specialist with the Dutch national federation. Lidl-Trek and the Dutch federation have a recovery plan already in place which, following successful completion of the surgery, will allow Ellen to return to normal training within two weeks and keep focusing on her preparation for the Olympic Games,” Lidl-Trek’s statement read.

“Post-surgery Ellen will continue to be monitored by the performance team and medical staff at Lidl-Trek as well as at the national federation.”

Van Dijk, who had her first child at the end of 2023, has long had the time trial in Paris as her central goal in 2024, and it is the main thing she has been working towards since coming back from maternity leave, already winning two UCI-level TTs in 2024.

As such, this has been a worrying blow to her plans.

“Of course, I am incredibly disappointed. All my efforts are focused on the Olympics, and this is the last thing you want to happen,” Van Dijk said about the setback.

However, the 37-year-old clearly has dedicated support from her team and the Dutch federation, and remained optimistic about her chances of getting back on track.

“I am in good hands with the medical and performance staff of both Lidl-Trek and KNWU, and we will do everything we can to ensure I am fit at the start in Paris.”

Van Dijk is part of a four-strong Dutch selection for the road events, which also includes Demi Vollering, Marianne Vos and Lorena Wiebes. If she is fit for the TT on 27 July, she will certainly be among the favourites for a medal, alongside the likes of Vollering, Marlen Reusser and Grace Brown.