World Cycling Championships: Van Vleuten starts with a broken elbow

Despite the injury, the 39-year-old is one of the favourites for the 164.3-kilometre race on Saturday. Van Vleuten was already world champion in 2019 and won the famous rainbow jersey in the individual time trial in 2017 and 2018. At the Olympic Games in Tokyo, she took silver in the road race and gold in the time trial.

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Van Vleuten was in the Team mixed time trial on Wednesday crashed shortly after the start, apparently due to a technical defect.

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After the race, the winner of the Tour de France Femmes announced that it was a stable fracture that did not require surgery. She will make a start in the road race dependent on the pain. Van Vleuten obviously has the pain under control.

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