Manager Ralph Denk was at a loss in view of the many illnesses in cycling.
"I'm not a doctor either. But it's clear that in previous years we didn't have corona, there were no vaccinations and fewer respiratory diseases than now. And I speak for the entire peloton," the head of the German cycling team Bora-hansgrohe told the German Press Agency after the Milan-Sanremo spring classic.
Numerous riders such as world champion Julian Alaphilippe (France), European champion Sonny Colbrelli (Italy) and former winner John Degenkolb had to pull out of the first classic of the season. Denk's racing team was hit particularly hard. "19 riders out of 30 are currently injured," reported Denk. Among them is German champion Max Schachmann, who is normally a mainstay at the spring classic in northern Italy. But Schachmann is out of action with an infection. As a result, he will not start the Tour of Catalonia on Monday, as Schachmann announced on Instagram: "Unfortunately, the recovery is taking longer than I thought."
Sprinter Sam Bennett was also absent due to a respiratory illness. Bora only had five instead of the seven possible riders at the start in Milan. "It's a vicious circle. You're obliged to take part in the races and you can't say you're skipping Milan-Sanremo. But you have another WorldTour race in Catalonia next week. You also have an obligation there," says Denk.
The solution is to improvise. "You start patching things up, just sending the racers from one race to the next. And that means there is no real build-up of form. The healthy racers are no longer regenerated because they do more races than planned," says Denk. The problem doesn't just affect Bora. The sickness rate among the competition is also unusually high. Possibly late effects of Covid illnesses? "We don't know," says Denk.
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