Wilco Kelderman resumes training three days after collision, hospitalization
The Dutchman promises to ‘fight back to come back stronger.’
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Bora-Hansgrohe rider Wilco Kelderman completed his first training session — 51 minutes on Zwift — just three days after being struck by an SUV while on a training ride with his teammates.
“One thing I know for sure. I will fight back to come back stronger. Also a speedy recovery to my teammates from Bora-Hansgrohe, who were also involved in the accident,” Kelderman said.
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Kelderman, Rüdiger Selig, and Andreas Schillinger sustained injuries when the driver of the SUV failed to stop at an intersection and collided with a group of Bora-Hansgrohe riders.
All three were taken to a nearby hospital for diagnosis and treatment of various injuries.
Marcus Burghardt, Anton Palzer, Max Schachmann, and Michael Schwarzmann were also in the group that was struck but did not suffer serious injuries.
A release from the team Sunday also confirmed that Andreas Schillinger had also suffered broken cervical and thoracic vertebrae.
The 29-year-old Dutchman’s move to Bora-Hansgrohe at the beginning of the month should allow him to continue contesting for high placement in the general classification at grand tours in 2021.
Kelderman had a successful 2020 riding for Team Sunweb (now Team DSM) in which he was in and out of the pink jersey at the 2020 Giro d’Italia.
In the final stages, Sunweb teammate Jai Hindley took the maglia rosa from Kelderman’s shoulders, only to lose it to Tao Geoghegan Hart in the closing kilometers of the Italian grand tour.