Lucie Boudesseul (19): Eleven hours of surgery, five-month break, end of the season

Lucie Boudesseul had some incredibly bad luck. Whilst competing in the French Championship at Nogaro at the end of May, the 19-year-old suffered such a nasty crash that she sustained several fractures. In addition to a fracture to her left foot, a spinal injury meant she would be sidelined for a long time. Full recovery was expected to take up to twelve months.

“The operation was so complicated that the surgeon told me it would take between six and twelve months to remove the implant, which wasn’t exactly optimistic,” explained the GMT94 rider. “And as long as the implants are in my back, I can’t ride a motorbike again, as there’s a high risk of fractures at the ends of the rods in the event of another fall, which would be truly dramatic.”

Now Boudesseul has posted an update that offers hope. However, one thing seems clear: the 2026 WorldWCR is over for her.

“My foot has healed completely. You can’t see the fracture sites at all anymore, so I can now really step up my physiotherapy there. And as for my back: fortunately, it’s healing excellently and quickly, and an appointment has already been arranged to remove all the implants and screws. I’m having another operation on 21 September to have everything removed. So I’m really looking forward to finally being able to look ahead again and focus fully on my rehabilitation and recovery.”

The Women’s World Championship is currently on a three-month break until Jerez on 17–18 October. It’s virtually out of the question that Boudesseul will be back on the starting grid for the season finale.

“It takes a month for the screw holes to heal. After that, I’ll be able to ride again. By the end of October or early November, I should be fit again and able to gradually increase the workload,” explained the Yamaha rider. “However, it will happen much sooner, as the removal of all the hardware only takes three months.”