Just on four weeks since crashing in separate stages during the Giro Rosa, Hannah Barnes and Alena Amialiusik are both on the path to return to racing.

Barnes, who broke her left collarbone requiring surgery and a period of shoulder immobilisation, expects tomorrow to be able to take her training outdoors.

“It’s been going well. My surgeon is really happy with the healing and I’m now allowed to load the shoulder under physio supervision. I’ve been riding indoors on Zwift for the last two weeks which has been good to maintain my fitness. We’re also really pleased that the scar has avoided any infection and has now healed well,” said Barnes.

The current British individual time trial (ITT) champion said she aims to return to racing this month. “At the moment, we have GP Plouay pencilled in as my first race back and I think that’s realistic,” revealed Barnes.

While Barnes’ recovery is going smoothly her teammate Alena Amialiusik, who crashed two stages earlier at the Giro Rosa, underwent surgery earlier today in Hamburg, Germany on her right shoulder.

“The first X-ray was that I had a small fracture to my shoulder (humerus). But after some more scans we’ve now seen there is some more damage to the shoulder joint and the surrounding muscles,” said Amialiusik.

“I had surgery today which went well. I’ll start to train again indoors, so you can expect to see me in our new Zwift Academy and on the new Innsbruck course! We’re planning it will be two weeks before I’m allowed to ride on the road.”

Amialiusik remains upbeat after a shocking run of injuries in the last two seasons. Time off the bike due to a broken arm, facial injuries and a broken pelvis, all suffered in separate crashes in 2017, hasn’t dampened the Belarusian’s motivation to return to racing as soon as possible. And after a second place at Tour de Yorkshire and reclaiming the road and ITT double at the Belarusian national championships earlier this season, the 29-year-old has proven she can return to the top.

“I’m disappointed to have this crash and that it’s worse than we first thought. It’s been two tough seasons but it’s part of bike racing. I’m still very positive and am busy following my teammates at races. I’ll do all of the right things with my rehabilitation and I hope that this brings me in a place to return to racing mid-September and in time for the world championships,” added Amialiusik.

CANYON//SRAM Racing will tomorrow reveal its roster for the next Women’s WorldTour race, the Postnord Vårgårda West Sweden team time trial on 11 August in Vårgårda, Sweden.

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