A chondropathy in his right knee keeps the Asturian Pablo Uría away from competition
These are not easy days for Asturian Pablo Uría. The rider from Gijón has not been able to put on a race bib since 21 March, when he took part in the Gran Premio Primavera de Ontur in which his work was fundamental for the development of the race and the subsequent final victory of his team-mate Fran Muñoz. Some discomfort in his right knee took him out of the Clásica de Torredonjimeno line-up a few days before the celebration of the race in Jaén and, since then, he has not been able to work normally.
Uría suffers from chondropathy in that knee and his mood, although he has had his moments, is now a little better. “In the end, what I like most is riding my bike, training and above all competing, and when you don’t have that, you miss it and you look at your surroundings with a certain healthy envy. Pissing me off? Not to that extent, not at all, but I did feel anger for not being able to train, for having to be at home… You think things over, you miss your teammates a lot and this situation comes at a time of the season with two of my favourite races, the Clásica de Torredonjimeno and the Memorial Valenciaga, where I finished third last year”, explains the Asturian.
It all started a couple of days after Ontur. “I went out cycling with Ramón, we did a long and hard ride and the next day I started to feel the discomfort in my knee. I didn’t give it any more importance, I thought it was just something. I went out normally and the pain came back, and it came back with force. That’s when I started going to the physiotherapist. That week I went every day and during the following week, quite a lot. At that moment I realised that it was something that was going to take time, because no matter how much the physio looked after me I couldn’t see any improvement or progress. With the director Rafa Díaz Justo and the trainers Carlos Barredo and Antonio Campos we went to Premiummadrid, where we found out what the injury was,” he adds.
Since then, cycling has become something anecdotal for Uría. “Yes, I have touched it, but only 40-minute rides, very gentle to test the sensations. And very punctual. Right now, nothing at all. Fortunately I haven’t put on any weight. I’m doing some core exercises at home, I’m also doing some leg strength training and a bit of swimming. You have to be patient and the season still has a lot of great races ahead. The important thing is to come back fully recovered, but from the outside the team has been missed. They are having a very good season. I have a good relationship with my team-mates, they are interested in me and give me a lot of encouragement”.
Rafa Díaz Justo, director of the U23 team: “We talk to Pablo very often and we are very attentive to the evolution of his injury. His absence is very important for the team, he is one of our best climbers, we have some very tough races coming up with high mountains and he is a rider whose absence we are going to notice. The first thing is that he recovers from the injury, hopefully he can recover soon and be with us as soon as possible. There is still a calendar with very interesting competitions where he can show all his quality”.
