German rider Moritz Mauss underwent emergency career-saving surgery to remove a 50cm (20in) splinter of wood from his hip this week following a crash at the International Belgian Track Meeting on Sunday.<\/p>\n
The 18-year-old, who rides for the UAE Team Emirates Gen-Z development squad, was competing in the Madison in the Gent track cycling event when he crashed, sliding across the wooden track.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n As a result, splinters of wood from the track lodged in his leg, including a half-metre-long piece in his hip.<\/p>\n Article continues below <\/p>\n You may like<\/p>\n Writing in an Instagram post on Wednesday, Mauss said that he underwent surgery within hours of the crash, adding that he was “only a few centimetres” away from “a career-ending injury.<\/p>\n “I thought about sharing this post for the last few days, but I think it is important to also show these sides of the journey and the sport,” Mauss wrote.<\/p>\n “On Sunday, I crashed in the Madison race at the International Track Meeting in Gent. During my fall, I slid across the track, and a 50cm long piece of wood splintered from the track and went directly through my hip and upper left leg.<\/p>\n “I was taken directly to the hospital and had surgery only about two hours after the accident. Everything went smoothly, and I am already back home now.<\/p>\n “I got really lucky because the splinter missed my nerves and most of my leg muscles. I will be out for a while now, but it could have been A LOT worse. Only a few centimetres could have meant a career-ending injury.”<\/p>\n It isn’t the first time a track racer has been impaled by a piece of the wooden track surface. In 2011, Malaysian sprinter Azizulhasni Awang had a 23cm (9-inch) sliver<\/a> pierce his lower left leg after a crash during the Manchester Track World Cup.<\/p>\n Then, in 2019, Italian junior Lorenzo Gobbo – also racing at the Eddy Merckx velodrome in Gent – underwent three hours of surgery to have a 50cm splinter removed from his hip<\/a>.<\/p>\n What to read next<\/p>\n Mauss, who this year has 25 road race days under his belt, including appearances at Paris-Roubaix Espoirs and Li\u00e8ge-Bastogne-Li\u00e8ge Under-23, is riding his first season in the under-23 ranks after moving on from the German Junior Racing Team last season.<\/p>\n