A Crash With a Car Door Leads to a Broken Pelvis for Keegan Swenson
What does it take to keep Keegan Swenson off a bike? Apparently, more than a fractured pelvis. The reigning XCM World Champion got hit by a car door during a training ride, flew to Spain, and raced Santa Vall before MRI results confirmed his iliac crest was indeed broken.
On Monday, the reigning XCM World Champion broke the news on Instagram that nobody wants to see. What was supposed to be a triumphant Cape Epic announcement of Swenson racing alongside partner Matt Beers in South Africa, in the rainbow stripes, on Beers' home turf, turned into something a whole lot more sobering.
"Well, this isn't the Cape Epic announcement post I hoped to make today," Swenson wrote, before confirming that his iliac crest — the load-bearing ridge at the top of your hip bone — is fractured, "along with some other complications."
The wild part? He already suspected something was wrong before he flew back to South Africa. After getting hit by a car door during a training ride with his wife, Sofia Gomez Villafane, he headed to Spain for Santa Vall and raced anyway. With a fractured pelvis. While struggling to walk. Racing a UCI Gravel Earth Series event on a fractured pelvis while struggling to walk is not normal human behavior.
"I was optimistic things were okay after that collision with the car door, but after racing Santa Vall with quite a bit of pain (and still struggling to walk), I had a feeling something might actually be wrong, so we decided to get it checked out."
The context makes it sting even more. Swenson and Beers, two of the most dominant endurance athletes on the planet, were set to line up together at Cape Epic, eight days of brutal South African singletrack, with Keegan in the rainbow jersey. That's a dream pairing, and it's gone.
"Gutted to miss the opportunity to race Cape Epic in the rainbow jersey with Matt," Swenson said, "but S#!t happens."
He's now headed back to Tucson for more scans to figure out what comes next, but apparently, he's still on the bike, even if it's just for some dog walks. And he left us with some genuinely sound parting advice: "Watch out for those doors, they are quite sturdy."