NAMIBIAN cyclist Dan Craven said he hoped to be back training soon again after crashing out of the RAS cycle In Ireland

The crash came 50km before the end of the third stage when Craven was lying in fourth place in the peloton. Two of his team-mates slipped on the greasy descent and Craven saw his rear wheel slide from under him. With nowhere to go, the rest of the peloton ploughed into Craven, leaving the road strewn with bikes and bodies. “My team mate who was in second position said his back wheel slid and he was only just able to keep his bike up. I was not so lucky and no one behind me had a chance either.

I have no memory of it but people say there was oil on the road, with the rain and as it was so narrow and twisty it was just an accident waiting to happen,” he said. “Considering that we did the first 50km of the race in 1 hour and 1 minute I suppose it is no surprise that crashes would happen,” he added. Craven suffered a deep gash on his chin and on his cheek and also suffered memory loss, but he immediately got back onto his bike to complete the race. “This crash was the first time I’ve suffered from memory loss.

I remember my back wheel sliding out but do not remember the impact or getting up again. I remember getting a new bike, but do not remember getting on it. I don’t remember riding to the finish but apparently I rode down the descent like a mad man and no one who was with my was able to follow me I was going that fast,” he said. “Only thirty minutes later did my memory start coming back to me and I had no idea what jersey I was wearing or why, and I was asking my team mate when the next climb was – meanwhile we had already been over it,” he added. Craven went to a hospital in Galway where he was given local anaesthetic to his chin and cheek and received 11 stitches from a plastic surgeon.

Craven said he was instructed by the doctor not to ride for a week, but he was keen to get back on his bicycle. “I hope to get back on a bicycle tomorrow. It won’t be my racing bike, just my town bike so that I can move my legs and see how I feel and how the rest of my body is recovering. I also have road rash on my left shoulder, hip and knee as well as right forearm so we’ll see,” he said. “Otherwise I do plan on being back on my bike by the weekend and this should change little or nothing in my preparation for the Olympic Games,” he said. At the time of the crash Craven was lying sixth overall in the RAS’s General Classification, while he had claimed the King of the Mountains jersey after collecting the most points.