Two weeks after taking one of the biggest road wins of her career at the Australian National Criterium Championship, Rebecca Wiasak faced the grim reality of being a professional rider as she crashed out of the Tour Down Under, taking to social media to share photos of her injuries.
Competing as a guest rider for Holden Team Gusto, Wiasak crashed heavily on the opening stage of the Women’s Tour Down Under, hitting the deck roughly midway through the 115km stage around Gumeracha.
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Two days after the crash, which occurred on Thursday, Wiasak was well enough to take to Twitter to post photos of her injuries, showing nasty road rash on the right side of her face and neck, as well as saying that she had suffered mild concussion which would require “a few days off the bike”.
This sport provides some of the most exhilarating highs and the crappiest of lows. Bummed to crash out of @tourdownunder in Stage 1 on Thursday. Turns out I was a bit of a dud guest rider for @holdencycling. Mild concussion means a few days off the bike to recover. pic.twitter.com/JtwqLwMKwm
— Rebecca Wiasak (@RebeccaWiasak) January 13, 2018
Wiasak was aiming to return to riding a stationery bike on Monday, before undergoing a concussion test on Tuesday with the aim of returning to the track, where the two-time individual pursuit world champion is aiming to secure a place in the Australian team pursuit squad for the Commonwealth Games in April.
“[There were] a few moments of panic when I think, ‘I’m running out of time to get my qualifying performance for Comm Games’,” Wiasak told The Canberra Times.
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“I hope my head does recover because one of my thoughts is that, ‘I hope this doesn’t prevent me making Commonwealth Games’. I’m trying to stay positive and push that thought out of my head, and just focus on doing everything right.”
The Women’s Tour Down Under concluded on Sunday, with Mitchelton-Scott’s Amanda Spratt taking the overall victory, successfully defending her title from 2017 despite a crash on the final stage, meaning that she had to take a lap out of the concluding criterium to rejoin the bunch.
