The opening stage of the Tour of Oman might have seen Alexander Kristoff extend his record victory tally with a rapid sprint on the Suhar Corniche, but away from the headlines there was another story, and another slice of history being made, as Bart De Clercq (Wanty-Gobert) became the first professional cyclist to race with an artificial hip. The 32-year-old Belgian went through the old pre-race rituals on Al Sawadi Beach on Saturday morning, applying sun lotion and pinning on his numbers, with a childlike grin on his face. It was the first time heŽd done that in almost 18 months. In the intervening period, he`d struggled with an injury that threatened to ruin not just his career but his quality of life.ADVERTISEMENT The crash that fractured his hip, he recalls, was a `silly` one. Having just transferred from Lotto Soudal to Wanty Groupe Gobert, he was out for a causal ride with a friend in early January last year and was doing a U-turn at slow pace when his front wheel slipped out. It was a classic case of a slow crash doing - somewhat counter-intuitively - more damage than a high-speed fall, where momentum can carry you over the ground rather than into it. `It was a stupid crash but with serious consequences. The impact was really located at one place, and the wrong place. I landed with the complete impact on my hip,` De Clercq told Cyclingnews in Oman. `I remember it clearly. I lay down, I tried to stand up, I couldn`t stand up, I immediately went down again on the floor, then I wanted to move to the side of the road - one more metre - but that wasn`t possible because of the pain. Then I remember every second on my way to the hospital. I think I`ll remember it for a few more years yet.` `I want to get my old level back`
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