18 June 2013
IAM Cycling
IAM Cycling has had its share of bad luck throughout the Tour of Switzerland.
The members of the Swiss Pro Continental team have not been spared compared to the competing teams. This ill-chance has kept the medical teams hands full since they are in charge of the health of the team founded in 2012 by Michel Thétaz, founder and CEO of IAM Investment Funds.
Stefan Denifl, Heinrich Haussler, Sébastien Reichenbach and of course Marcel Wyss have all tasted asphalt at least once since the start in Quinto.
And of course, these falls do not come without consequences. Suffice it to say that the doctors, osteopaths, physiotherapists and soigneurs have all been busy.
Professor Jacques Ménétrey, a member of the University of Geneva Hospitals (HUG), with which IAM Cycling signed a partnership at the beginning of the year, has worked behind the scenes to support the teams victims of mishaps.
Jacques Ménétrey, how do you go about rating the severity of a crash, and what may be the resulting consequences?
It is important to know the energy of the fall and therefore the potential trauma. For this we can rely on the explanations of the rider. Based on these elements we assist the investigations.
Do you have a classification or a system of evaluation for injuries?
In our team, we classify injuries by degrees. We have three degrees of severity to evaluate the falls.
The first level refers to a mild fall. The rider continues the race and then undergoes a medical control in the evening at the hotel.
The second level corresponds to a crash with a higher energy. The rider usually suffers multiple wounds, bruises and abrasions. This kind of fall is never banal and may cause imbalances in the skeleton and the muscles. The skin lesions and the pain interfere with sleep and make recovery more difficult. We take these incidents very seriously. We obviously treat the wounds, and with the help of the osteopaths and physiotherapists, we deal with the muscle, joint and bone problems.
When the severity level reaches three, there is a high-energy fall that can cause a fracture to the clavicle, pelvis, femur, patella, and/or joint and bone problems. In this case, the rider is transferred immediately to a hospital in order to make a definite diagnosis using X-rays. Usually this mean surgery is likely, and a prolonged break from training and racing.
What constitutes the recovery and rehabilitation time?
It depends on the severity and type of injury. The higher energy the trauma, the more severe and extensive the damage. They take time to heal and recover. This time can range from a few days to several weeks depending on the severity of the injuries.
We recognize too that riders will naturally have a fear of having a similar crash, and re-injuring the part of the body. Indeed, when a rider falls repeatedly, like Marcel Wyss at this years Tour of Switzerland, it generates a combination of injuries and trauma, which are the source of intense pain and suffering. While a fall may appear to be more or less benign, these cumulative traumas often can lead to consequences that are difficult to treat.
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