Pedro Horrillo, the Spanish rider who tumbled 60 metres down a ravine last Saturday on stage eight of the Giro d'Italia, is slowly improving in hospital.
According to his Rabobank team, Horrillo is now sitting up in bed and has talked to his wife Lorena.
Considering the injuries he sustained, this is a remarkable recovery. Horrillo suffered multiple fractures to his leg, knee, back and ribs, plus serious upper body injuries and a punctured lung.
It took 20 minutes for the rescue team to recover Horrillo from the ravine. He was then airlifted to hospital and put into a coma for 24 hours by doctors.
Despite his good recovery, Horrillo is still unable to fly back to Spain from Italy.
An eventual return to cycling has not been ruled out in the long term by Rabobank team doctor Gert Leinders, but the Spaniard will be taking things one step at a time.
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Giro d'Italia 2009 links
Stage reports
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Stage 10: Di Luca lays down the gauntlet
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Stage nine: Cavendish blitzes rivals to win in Milan
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Nigel Wynn worked as associate editor on CyclingWeekly.com, he worked almost single-handedly on the Cycling Weekly website in its early days. His passion for cycling, his writing and his creativity, as well as his hard work and dedication, were the original driving force behind the website’s success. Without him, CyclingWeekly.com would certainly not exist on the size and scale that it enjoys today. Nigel sadly passed away, following a brave battle with a cancer-related illness, in 2018. He was a highly valued colleague, and more importantly, an exceptional person to work with - his presence is sorely missed.
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