For the first time since her serious fall in the Tour de France, Laura üßmilch reports from her hospital bed. The 25-year-old “went through hell” because, among other things, a broken bone in the head was only discovered with a delay. But the cyclist also has good news.
Last year Laura üßmilch celebrated gold medals on the track at world and European championships, on the road the 25-year-old experienced the painful side of cycling in the truest sense of the word at the Tour de France. On the second stage, the German had a serious fall – and now reports that a significant part of her injuries were only diagnosed long afterwards. “Thank God that I’m still alive,” writes süssmilch on Instagram, “I’ve been the last few days gone through hell”.
In the final phase of the second part of the day of the Tour of France, she fell on the way to Provins and had to give up the race afterwards. Now she has spoken publicly for the first time since. Initially, two fractured vertebrae were discovered in the driver from the Belgian team Plantur-Pura, but: “I knew that the two fractured vertebrae were not my definitive diagnosis, as I felt a severe stabbing pain in my head despite taking strong painkillers.”
After she was transferred from Saarbrücken to a clinic in Tübingen, various other injuries were found. “Another fractured vertebrae,” writes süssmilch on Instagram, as well as “a broken rib and a fracture in the back of the head.” In all this horror news, the 25-year-old also knows good things to say: “In a few weeks I will be 100 percent healthy again”, the injuries could also be treated conservatively: “I don’t have to have an operation.”
She is currently in hospital under medical supervision. In the meantime she is at least “able to get out of bed and walk with support”. The plan is to leave the clinic in the next few days. “I’ll come back stronger,” Süssmilch also announced that he would soon be getting back on his bike after medical clearance.
