Unbound rider left injured, in ditch for 90 minutes before aid arrived – ‘I wanted to leave my body’

Klara Sofie Skovgaard (Canyon Factory Racing) suffered a serious crash early in the women’s elite race at Unbound Gravel on Saturday, and consequently spent 90 minutes injured in a roadside ditch before receiving any medical assistance.

Two fellow competitors, Luise Valentin (Enough Cycling Collective) and Lucy Hempstead (Classified x Rose), stopped their race to call for help and stay with Skovgaard until initial aid arrived. According to the riders, it took two hours before an ambulance reached the scene and transported her to a hospital, where she later underwent surgery for a dislocated, fractured shoulder and an open knee wound.