Tour de France
The Movistar Team rider underwent surgery last night to fix the triple fracture in his left collarbone, and will leave hospital today
José Joaquín Rojas will rest at home in the upcoming hours after undergoing surgery late last night at the Clínica Vírgen de La Vega in Murcia, after his triple left collarbone fracture forcing him to give up the Tour de France on stage three last Tuesday. The operation was a success as the Movistar Team rider will be able to get on his trainer in a few days, with the aim of not losing his great fitness level and take any chance to stay into the Spanish Olympic team for the road race in London, a spot he was granted last month.
Rojas went through a hard journey before his surgery: “It took really long because we did 250 kilometers by car from the hotel to the airport in Paris, where we had to stay almost two hours waiting at the terminal and almost one more into the aircraft before taking off. Plus, the flight time and the two hours by car from Valencia to Murcia, that means I came quite tired into hospital”. At the Clínica Vírgen de La Vega, he was awaited by Ph.D’s Esparza and Martínez Romero –“I only have thankful words for them, because they were so kind and helpful for me”- with everything set up to lead him directly into the operating room, where the successful intervention started just before 10 PM: “They told me everything went perfect and the sheet was perfectly attached to my collarbone. They are really optimistic and guaranteed me that mobility will be total and that I’ll lose less days than expected.”
Rojas will undergo new checks this morning and predictably leave hospital in the afternoon, though he will still get back in the next few days to monitorize his evolutions: “If everything goes right, I hope to get back on the trainer as of this Saturday; after that, when the doctors think it’s the right time, I’ll be back on the road.” Always at his sights, the participation in the London Olympics is still a motivation for the Spaniard: “I talked to the national coach and we decided that the best thing was leaving some days go by and check my status before taking a final choice. I’ll put all from my side to stay into the team, but that’s something I don’t know yet. There are still 23 days to the race and I hope to stay very few days still, so the work I already did is not in vain.”
The Movistar Team rider regrets about misfortune suffered in the last week, at the crucial point of a season he had prepared cautiously: “It was a big blow because I had worked so much for this month, with the RR Spanish champs, the Tour and the Olympics, and leaving all those races apart… The crash was a bit strange, because I was overtaking riders through the kerb, the rider ahead of me broke, I touched his rear wheel and, when I was falling down, someone crashed on me from behind and that made me hit the road straight. Despite being the first bone I had broken into a crash, I knew fast it was the collarbone. The instinct told me of bearing my weight on the arm to get up, and then I already realized I had no strength and the bone was out of position.”
Lastly, Rojas wants to leave a message of support towards his teammates in the Grande Boucle: “It was a real shame to leave them alone there, especially this season with such a strong squad. But even without me, I’m convinced they’ll be making a great Tour and be up-front when the mountains arrive. All of them are really focused on helping Alejandro and I’m sure they’ll ride at the front when the mountains time comes.”