Arlenis Sierra suffered an accident that caused her bruises while training in Italy

March 15, 2021

The star of Cuban cycling, Arlenis Sierra, suffered an accident while training in Italy, which caused her several bruises on her body and face, but she has no fractures and is already recovering at home.

According to a statement made to Radio Habana Cuba by the vice president of the Cuban Cycling Federation, Héctor Marcos, the Cuban "is already recovering at home. We had a big scare, but she only has bruises. She spent more than 12 hours in the hospital and medical exams show no fractures or other complications, although we need to continue monitoring her."

The also treasurer of the Pan American Confederation (Copaci) explained that Cuba's best road cyclist in history has "pain in her back on the right side," where she received a hard blow in the fall when she impacted against a car that blocked her path on a downhill section near Tarzo.

The accident occurred around 12:30 p.m. last Thursday while the world medalist and multiple Pan American champion was doing intense training alongside the sports director of her professional club, Leandro Marcos.

"Much fear, but also a great sigh of relief! Yesterday Arlenis Sierra was victim of a training accident when she impacted against a car on a downhill stretch at about 45 km / h. Many bruises, but tests performed at the hospital showed no fractures or other complications such as concussion... her Limar AirPro helmet was absolutely providential!", commented the Monex club when reporting on the accident.

According to initial reconstructions, a car would have passed them and turned sharply to the right making the impact inevitable. Rescue vehicles transported the Cuban champion and captain of the A.R. Monex Liv Women's Pro Cycling Team to Conegliano hospital for routine exams, while sports director Marcos did not require hospitalization," reported the specialized cycling website biciclismo.com.

"We maintain constant communication with her, with the general director of the club, Aldo Piccolo, and with Leandro Marcos. We expect she will need to be in recovery for 3 or 4 days, but her intention is to get back on the roads as soon as possible. She is very focused on the Olympic Games and other competitions. She is a very dedicated and very professional athlete," added Héctor Marcos.

Dozens of press outlets that follow cycling have lamented the news and hundreds of admirers of the stellar athlete have sent her messages of encouragement through social media to the athlete from Manzanillo, already qualified for the Tokyo Olympic Games, where she hopes to improve on the 28th place from Rio-2016 in the road race, the best finish by a Cuban woman in history.