Pro Cyclist Starnes Hurt in Oregon Crash

It was a seemingly innocuous descent – long fast, and straight.

Wanting to fix a race number that was rubbing against her brakes, Mill Valley pro cyclist Alison Starnes drifted back a bit in the main field of Wednesday's stage two of the BMC Cascade Cycling Classic in Oregon. She noticed a crash ahead of her and slowed to steer around it. As she did, however, another rider right in front of her also crashed.

Before Starnes knew it, she was airborne. Like a pro, the 25-year-old cyclist got up quickly, noticed no blood or road rash on her and tried to jump back on her bike and back into the race.

What she didn't notice is that she had lost consciousness for more than a minute, suffered a seizure and was in a severe amount of pain. She'd sustained a concussion and fractured her pelvis in two places.

"It was very frustrating," Starnes said Friday after arriving back home in Mill Valley. "I thought I was fine, but I had no idea."

Starnes argued briefly with Emma Rickards, director of her Tibco-To-the-Top racing team, to stay in the race. But before long, she was being airlifted to St. Charles Medical Centre in Bend, and her splendid racing season, which included helping a teammate on the US National Team become the first American to win the prestigious Giro Donne stage race in Italy, was on hold.

Starnes was released from the hospital Wednesday night and flew home Thursday.

"That was probably one of the most painful days I've had in my life – I passed out a couple of times," she said of the trip home. "I'm feeling better now though, and I saw an orthopedist and have more knowledge about the injury and the recovery process."

For the next three weeks Starnes will rest and heel before a follow-up with the doctor. She hopes to get the green light to get back on her bike a few weeks after that. For now, she can't place any weight on her foot, but there was no ligaments torn or dislocation.

"It's very disappointing," she said. "But there's nothing I can do about it now except focus on healing and staying positive."

In her second season a pro cyclist, Starnes had been on a roll in recent weeks. In addition to helping Mara Abbott make history in Italy, Starnes also wore the race leader's yellow jersey for three days in the Nature Valley Grand Prix in Minnesota in June and placed third in the Chrono Gatineau UCI time trial in Quebec in June.

"It's been a really good year so far," she said. "I've moved from more of a developmental position to where I've really been in the mix. Going into the Cascade, I had my best form of the season."