Joe Dombrowski hangs tough at Volta ao Algarve after bruising crash

Almodôvar, Portugal (VN)  – Despite a heavy crash on his Astana Qazaqstan Team debut Joe Dombrowski remains upbeat and “hanging in there” at the Volta ao Algarve.

The American climber moved during the off-season to Astana after two years at UAE Team Emirates and was looking forward to the six-day race when he spoke to VeloNews on the morning of the first stage.

However, his race briefly looked in jeopardy when the 30-year-old fell with around 40km to go on the first stage. He limped home and immediately made a beeline for a waiting ambulance and some much-needed medical checks. Luckily, no bones were broken but when he spoke to VeloNews the following morning in Portimao it was clear that the American was in some pain.

With dressings on both arms and legs, along with a heavy bandage on his sore right hip Dombrowski limped off the team bus to catch up.

“I don’t know what happened in the end,” he told VeloNews.

“I think everyone thought that it was going to be super windy but it wasn’t that bad in the end but everyone wanted to be in the front. It was a stressful moment and then I went down in this first crash with between 40 and 50km to go. I went over the bars, someone just fell right in front of me and I had nowhere to go. It was difficult to get to the finish, and I have quite a bit of pain in my right leg but we’re going to try today and see how it goes.

“There’s just a lot of trauma around the right hip. There’s nothing broken but it’s hard to put weight on the right leg. Cycling – sometimes you can barely walk but then you get on the bike and you can do it. Hopefully, they don’t start full gas but I don’t think that anyone is looking out for me. It’s my first race but that’s how it goes. That’s part of the sport. I just have to go out there and see how it goes.”

Stage 2 saw the race climb to the summit at Fóia with David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) winning the stage and moving into the leader’s jersey.

Dombrowski battled through the finish 140th on the stage, over 20 minutes down on the Frenchman but the result mattered little given that the mission had been based on survival.

At the start of stage 3, Dombrowski looked to be moving with slightly more freedom and a smile on his face, despite the dreary conditions.

“I just survived yesterday and today’s a bit flatter, so we’ll see how things go,” he told VeloNews.

“It was a bit difficult in the final when they started to push because I’ve got some pain in my hip so I sat back in the grupetto and tried to recover. It’s just the way it is.”