End of season for Joan Martí Bennassar: operation on the wounds from his serious crash in the Trofeu Fira d’Agost
The Balearic Joan Martí Bennassar will not race again in 2021. The cyclist from Marratxí has been forced to end his season due to the serious injuries he suffered in a crash during the last edition of the Trofeu Fira d’Agost de Xátiva. The Mallorcan rider was descending the Alto del Campello at the front of the breakaway that at the time was leading the escape, lost control of the bike, tried to regain it, hit a crash barrier and suffered deep cuts to both his hands and his belly, with particularly serious damage to his left hand that affected the tendons.
“He was in the breakaway with Álex Martín, Vicente and several other riders. Fernando was about 40 seconds behind, making up time and close to linking up. Álex was leading the descent when on a left-hand bend I made a straight line, but I caught some gravel on the asphalt and my bike skidded. When I hit the guardrail I fell on my belly and leaned on my right hand, hurting my left wrist. I couldn’t keep my hand up, it was falling. It was a complicated moment, because there was a lot of blood and although I tried to stay calm I got very scared. When David passed me the first thing I told him was to call an ambulance. The cuts were deep. I hadn’t even noticed the one on my belly at the time,” he recalls.
Initially at the hospital he was diagnosed with a rupture of two tendons in his left hand, but further tests at a hospital in Mallorca revealed damage to a third tendon. On Wednesday he underwent surgery. “The operation went very well. The first night was hard, I couldn’t stand the pain even with the medication. At home I’m a bit better now, although I have to take medication. The doctors told me that it was a serious injury and they warned me that the rehabilitation was going to be difficult and that I had to do my best. And of course I will do that, to recover as soon as possible and well,” he explains.
From this bitter experience, however, Bennassar draws from the enormous affection he has received. A multitude of expressions of affection for which he is very grateful. “They have saturated my phone with calls and messages of encouragement and support, worrying about me from morning till night. I would like to thank everyone for all this love. I have no words to describe the enormous gratitude I have. Managers, teammates and rivals from my time as a child, cadet or youth player, assistants, masseurs… A lot of people. I want you all to know that I really appreciate all your messages, from the bottom of my heart. I feel very loved”, he proclaims.
Joan Martí Bennassar, winner of a stage in the last edition of the Volta a la Provincia de Valencia, was facing his last season as an U23 rider. “I’m very sad to end the year like this, my last year in the category. It may also be the end for me in the Foundation after six wonderful years. But that’s the way things have turned out and that’s the way they’re going to stay, they’re not going to change. After the accident, in the hospital, I still hadn’t assimilated the fact that I wasn’t going to race any more this season. They hadn’t told me either, but it was obvious with such a serious injury.
“After the operation, my parents went out to get some sweets that I asked them for. When I was left alone I started to cry uncontrollably. A little out of frustration, a little out of pent-up anger… I cried and cried a lot. My parents came back and found me like that and told me not to worry, that I’m going to get over this injury and I’m going to be on my bike much sooner than I think. I’m not crying because of the injury, I told them, I’m crying because I see that people appreciate me a lot, I don’t have time to answer so much affection and so much concern. So those tears are tears of emotion, not sadness, my mother told me. And she is right. I feel a lot of support and that’s nice. The fall has given me something that you don’t often realise is there. I’m very grateful”.
[📷 Club Ciclista Onturense / Gran Premio Primavera / J. Marchante (1 y 2) ]
[📷 PhotoGomezSport (3) ]
