Bitter premiere for the Ticino mountain biker Filippo Colombo: During his first participation in Parix-Roubaix, he is involved in a crash and falls heavily. Diagnosis: multiple elbow fractures. His team manager Thomas Frischknecht explains what is clear and what is not.

Thomas Frischknecht is only forceful once, when he talks about the crash of his new team rider Filippo Colombo: "It has nothing to do with inexperience. Filippo was riding in twelfth place, right at the front of the field. He knew there was less risk of being involved in a crash at the front - he did it like an experienced rider."

What made Paris-Roubais 2023 so dangerous was the dry conditions. Because the drier it is, the faster the riders ride over the pavès. "It was the fastest race in history," explains Frischknecht. The result: the peloton roared at 60 km/h on the cobbled section in the Arenberg forest, "the worst of all the notorious sections". Colombo hit a bump and his front tire lost air. However, this alone did not bring him down, but a rider in front of him who crashed and whom he was unable to avoid while riding on the rim.

He hit the pavement hard and broke his elbow several times. He was operated on shortly afterwards at the Hirslanden Clinic in Zurich. "The injury is complicated, but the operation went well," summarizes Frischknecht. It is currently impossible to say when Filippo Colombo will be able to support his full weight on a shaking bike handlebar again, "I'm not going to get involved in speculation." It seems certain that the World Cup start in Move Mesto in mid-May and the home race in Lenzerheide at the beginning of June will take place without the Ticino native.

Colombo also wants to ride road races

Thomas Frischknecht is disappointed, but he is not complaining. It is Colombo's express wish to also compete in road races. With the new Swiss Profi Team Q36.5, he has found the right team to enable him to race on the road. "I also support this and I am convinced that these races would have helped him in terms of experience and building up his form. But now things have just turned out differently. You're always smarter with hindsight." Accidents can always happen, on the road and on the mountain bike, in training and in races.

Colombo is combatively optimistic. He is already fully set on recovery and he will come back stronger, he writes on Instagram. "He may not be fully aware of what lies ahead of him and how long the rehab can be," says his boss. "In any case, he's not crushed." The first mobilization tests will show what the young Ticino player has to adjust to.