Kristen Faulkner has confirmed the beginning of her season was delayed attributable to a concussion sustained in a crash whereas coaching final December and that she is now “absolutely recovered” and able to start her season with EF-Oatly-Cannondale on the revived girls’s Milan-San Remo on Saturday.
Faulkner stated that whereas it has taken about three months to get better, her workforce was supportive throughout that point and that there was no strain positioned on her to return to competitors earlier than she was healed.
“I’m lastly feeling higher, which is so good. The restoration course of was very up and down. I assumed I used to be good after which I went to workforce camp and I needed to go away workforce camp early,” Faulkner stated in a workforce press launch.
“From the workforce’s standpoint, it was higher simply to verify I used to be absolutely recovered and never put a timeline on it, not put strain on me to carry out at any upcoming race. Just be one hundred pc wholesome and prepared by the point I get again. I felt like I used to be allowed to let my physique heal by itself timeline which is absolutely necessary.
“I admire that the workforce stated, ‘No strain. Let’s let your physique do what it’s going to do and we’ll put you in racing once you’re wholesome.’ So I didn’t have any stress or strain to get again to racing immediately.”
Faulkner is contracted to race with EF-Oatly-Cannondale by means of 2026. She had an distinctive season in 2024 the place she received the elite girls’s street race title on the USA Cycling National Championships adopted by two gold medals on the Olympic Games within the street race and workforce pursuit.
However, questions arose when Faulkner had not joined the workforce within the early races on the calendar and appeared to delay the beginning of her season.
Faulkner instructed Cyclingnews by way of e-mail that she was initially supposed to start out her season at Trofeo Ponente in Rosa in March however the occasion was then cancelled. EF-Oatly-Cannondale later confirmed her begin at Milan-San Remo.
She stated {that a} later begin to the racing season might find yourself being helpful to her targets for occasions later within the yr.
“It means I’ll have a greater second half of the season. Normally, I’d are available in and have a very good classics marketing campaign and this yr I’m really sitting out of the cobbled classics and focusing extra on the Ardennes and the Vuelta,” she stated.
“So, Milan-San Remo can be a extremely good likelihood for me to get again within the peloton a bit of bit later than regular.”
