Ellen van Dijk might need help getting off her bike after the Olympic time trial on Saturday, as she is still unable to unclip from her pedals following an ankle break, she revealed on Wednesday.
The Dutchwoman, a three-time world champion, fractured her ankle in a training crash last month, and faced a six-week battle to be fit in time for the Olympic Games.
She was named in the Dutch road cycling squad last week, but said she "hasn't had an ideal preparation" for her third Games.
"The ankle doesn't have much mobility yet," she said after a time trial course recon on Wednesday. "But that's no problem on the bike. I don't have to worry about it. It's just that I can't unclick [sic: unclip] from the pedals, but there's no need for that in the time trial."
Van Dijk underwent surgery on her ankle at the start of June, and was limited to indoor turbo sessions during her recovery. She also trained with a support brace that she put inside her cycling shoe.
When the training crash happened, she said, she thought her Olympic dream "was all over".
"It was a tough crash with pretty nasty ramifications, and at that very moment you just don’t know how quick you'll recover," the 37-year-old explained.
"I held on to the fact that, after my pregnancy, I was back on the bike within three weeks and it felt good. So I thought three weeks after the [ankle] operation, we're still a week ahead of the Games. Of course it's different, but I was very fit when I crashed, so the level will return quickly too."
Van Dijk no longer relies on a brace when she rides, but is still facing some discomfort off the bike. "Walking is more difficult than cycling, but it's not about walking," she said. "[My ankle] doesn't bother me on the bike and that's the most important thing."
Both the men and the women will take on a flat 32.4km route through central Paris in Saturday’s Olympic time trials. Following her recon, Van Dijk said the course "suits" her, although the "surface is bad", with lots of bumps and holes.
"I'm going to give it my all," she said. "I want to enjoy it, because being here is special as it is."
