Fernández still suffering from bad crash

Koldo Fernández had told El Diario Vasco that he's still not completely healed from his bad crash in Paris-Bourges towards the back-end of last season. The sprinter backed off in the sprint for the line in yesterday's Trofeo Cala Millor due to the 'crazy nature' of the sprint and the risks of crashing involved. Responding to comments made by Movistar compatriots and fellow sprinters JJ Rojas and Fran Ventoso that he looks more like a climber than a sprinter now, the Zurbano native admitted that the crash has had a big impact on his weight and muscle-mass. "I've lost a lot of muscle-mass", he readily admitted. At the moment he's three or four kilos below his match-weight and can't put out more than 1500 watts in a sprint. Last year he could put out 1700. "I've lost a lot of my sprinting prowess. But in return I'm lighter and might be able to crest the climbs more easily. Perhaps this will prevent me from taking part in certain types of sprints, but maybe it'll enable me to be competitive in harder stages with more mountains, the classics..." After returning to his home from the Mallorca Challenge, Koldo will have some x-rays done to try to figure out what causes his arms and fingers to fall asleep every time he turns his head down. This mysterious disorder is naturally hampering his riding, and thus he won't take to the start in today's Trofeo Inca as a precautionary measure.