Canadian cyclist Michael Woods to miss Giro d’Italia after breaking hand

TORONTO – Canadian cyclist Michael Woods will miss the Giro d’Italia with a broken hand.

The 29-year-old from Ottawa broke his hand in three places Sunday with some 20 kilometres to go in the Liege-Bastogne-Liege, the third of the Ardennes Classics one-day races in Belgium and the Netherlands.

“It’s the hand, but also my back is pretty bad, too,” Woods said in a statement released Thursday by his Cannondale Pro Cycling Team.

Woods had finished 12th on April 20 at La Fleche-Wallonne, the second of the three races.

“That’s been the hardest part about dealing with the crash, is the fact that I was feeling really good. I had a good one at Fleche. I wasn’t positioned great, but I had the legs to have a top result at Liege. Maybe not to win, but definitely contend for a top five,” Woods said.

Sunday’s race was contested in chilly temperatures over 253 kilometres.

Woods, in his first season with Cannondale, turned heads earlier this year by finishing fifth in his UCI World Tour debut at the Santos Tour Down Under in Australia.

The Giro starts May 6.

Woods said he does not have a timeline for his return yet.

“Once they have a clearer picture as to what’s going on with the back I can set a clear timeline for getting back on the bike,” he said. “The sad part about cycling is it’s often more than one injury. If I was just dealing with a broken hand, it would be fine. It’s the back, too. Getting into bed is a five-minute ordeal.”

“My wife’s been helping me get dressed,” he added. “I feel like a four-year-old again.”

The Summer Olympics remain on his wish list.

“Rio is a big goal of mine this season. I’m still looking forward. This is definitely not a lost season. This will definitely make me come back stronger.”

A Pan American junior champion over 1,500 metres, the five-foot-nine 140-pounder earned a track scholarship at the University of Michigan. But he switched to cycling after a string of stress fractures in his foot ended his track career.