Surgery only after the season

Back on the bike three days after cruciate ligament rupture

Michael Sandner in injury trouble.(Bild: Photo: Juan Pablo Acevedo - @jpacevedophoto)

Last year, the motocross rider impressively proved that Michael Sandner is a fighter after breaking his cervical vertebrae. And this year too, the Upper Austrian is a real stand-up guy. After injuring his knee badly on Sunday, he was back on his bike on Wednesday.

"I didn't even crash, which makes it all the more bitter," says Michael Sandner. Although he had a thousand guardian angels last year when he broke his first cervical and thoracic vertebrae and sustained other serious injuries in a crash in Italy, he was only able to get back on his bike six months later. Nevertheless, the Mühlviertel motocross figurehead remains unlucky with injuries.

Fear of the end of the season
At the ADAC MX Master on Sunday in Gaildorf, Sandner was hit by an opponent in such an unfortunate way that the cruciate ligament in his right knee was torn and then completely ruptured two laps later. "Until now, I could always say that at least my knees were still intact, but now that's history too," sighed the HSV-Ried rider, who was actually expecting the season to be over after the diagnosis by doctor Florian Dannbauer.

Despite a cruciate ligament rupture in his right knee, he continues.(Bild: Irina Gorodnyakova)

Enormously strong muscles
"But he said that I could give it a go and after consulting with our club doctor, Dr. Süss, who knows what forces are at work in motocross, he gave me the green light!" Above all, Sandner's enormously strong muscles around his knee, which he has built up through his intensive bike training (up to 400 km per week), prevent him from being forced to take a break.

"Worked surprisingly well!"
On Wednesday, just three days after suffering the injury, he completed his first test rides on his KTM. "It worked really surprisingly well, but without the Ortema knee brace it certainly wouldn't have been as comfortable," laughs the 25-year-old. On Sunday, he will even be competing in the national championship race in Seitenstetten. The clear goal: to defend the overall lead in the Open class so that he can go to his home race in Mehrnbach on September 1st as number one. Incidentally, the surgery will not take place until after the end of the season on September 22.