Alex Herrmann’s bad luck: the German Championships in Vechta ended with him in hospital

Nicole Standke had imagined her farewell race to be very different, as had her passenger Alex Herrmann, who came off very badly at the Reiterwaldstadion in Vechta. What had happened? The North German rider, at the controls of the 500cc sidecar, made a spectacular false start in the very first heat of the German Sidecar Championship, followed by a crash, and in her second race she was involved in a collision with another rider through no fault of her own.

Herrmann was injured in the incident and had to be taken to the Evangelical Hospital in Oldenburg for examination by hand specialists. “That’s not how I’d imagined my farewell race,” Nicole Standke groaned later, “but I feel particularly sorry for Alex.”

Emergency surgery was needed to save his thumb

He spoke out on social media on Monday. “Moin, moin from the surgery here in Oldenburg,” the Schongau native addressed the track cycling community in his typical North German accent, “the surgeons gave it their all during the emergency operation on Saturday evening to save my left thumb. They managed it and reattached it. I had an eight- to nine-part comminuted fracture and a torn extensor tendon; the finger was only hanging on by about half a centimetre of skin. I’m grateful to the doctors who did everything they could to get my finger back in working order. I really feel at home here; everything’s brilliant – the whole atmosphere, the fantastic help and the tremendous support. And I’m amazed at how many people follow our sport, because I’ve received so many get-well messages, and I’m very grateful for that too.”

What happens next?

Alex Herrmann was discharged from hospital today, Tuesday. The season is, in all likelihood, over for him. The Hessian-born driver had hoped to compete in two more races with Markus Brandhofer – whose co-driver, Bridget Portijk, incidentally also announced her retirement at the weekend – but that’s unlikely to happen now. Herrmann: “Once the pins are removed from my thumb, I’ll start a period of rehab and physio. I want to be racing again next year. One more thing about Vechta: it was a top-class track and a great race. And I’m really sorry for Nicole that she has to say goodbye like this.”