Greg Henderson's heavy tumble during yesterday's 163.5km fourth stage of the Tour de France from Le Touquet to Lille means four riders chosen for road action in Glasgow are either in serious doubt or ruled out for a range of reasons.
The Lotto Belisol professional landed heavily on the knee which was operated on in the off season. Henderson's knee was split open but BikeNZ are optimistic for a speedy recovery to get him to the start line for the August 3 road race.
Henderson is talking boldly about his prospects of being ready in time for the Games race. However for now BikeNZ are sitting tight until they get clarification on how quickly the 37-year-old three-times Games medallist recovers.
"It's a real disappointment for Greg who was in outstanding form for the Tour de France," BikeNZ high performance director Mark Elliott said.
"We will wait for the result of the surgery and discuss the situation with Greg and our medical team before making any decision on his availability for Glasgow."
Those selected, then counted out, include James Oram and George Bennett, who were chosen for their professional team for conflicting races, and double Olympic medallist Hayden Roulston, who suffered an untimely injury.
National criterium champion Mike Northey was a late inclusion for the Games on Monday.
If Henderson is counted out, it will leave a road team of Jack Bauer, Jesse Sergent and Northey. Another rider would need to be found and the leading candidates among the track squad to come across and do a job on the road, most likely supporting the impressive Bauer, would be Shane Archbold, who is riding for the An Post team alongside New Zealand endurance track rider Aaron Gate, and Tom Scully, who is a team mate of Northey at Madison Genesis.
- By David Leggat of the NZ Herald
