Almost two months after his serious training accident, professional cyclist Max Walscheid continues to worry about the risks of his sport.
"I don't think it's bad at all to say that I also feel fear. I'm afraid of notoriously hectic races, I'm afraid of heavy crashes," said the 29-year-old from the French team Cofidis in an interview with the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung".
"A brutal start like last year's Tour de France in Brittany is definitely no fun. Fortunately, I didn't have any crashes, but when you see how it crashes downhill at 70 kilometres an hour, it's anything but nice," said Walscheid, who got back in the saddle for the first time since his accident last weekend at a tough cycling race in Brittany.
Accidents in cycling possible "at any time"
Walscheid lamented the fact that "you can be wiped out on the road through no fault of your own and you can't do anything about it. Despite knowing the route, despite the best bike control, despite an attentive riding style, such accidents can happen to you at any time," warned the cyclist.
"I don't see admitting fear as a weakness," said Walscheid, who has been a professional cyclist since 2016 and completed his first state examination in medicine. "I'm sure that the vast majority of professionals, I would almost say all professionals, only don't do it because they think it's a sign of weakness and would make them look like wimps."
At the end of March, Walscheid miraculously survived a serious training accident without serious injuries. He had collided head-on with a car and was then taken by helicopter to a hospital in Neuwied. He suffered various bruises in the accident. "I was lucky to have survived the accident," said Walscheid after the crash.
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