Dakar 2013: Marc Coma withdraws and Spain loses one of its biggest assets

The lead-up to the Dakar 2013 has brought us very bad news for all the fans who follow this event with great interest. Its central figure, Marc Coma, has confirmed that he will have to withdraw from the raid due to an injury to his left shoulder, from which he is still not fully recovered.

Coma’s possible withdrawal had been discussed in recent days, but we were hopeful that the Spaniard could finally take the start of the event. However, the rider has assessed the condition of his left shoulder, which was damaged in a fall at the Rally of Morocco, and has decided that he will ultimately not be able to take part, so we are left without the winner of 2006, 2009 and 2011, and without doubt one of the reasons many Spanish fans followed the event.

This is how Coma confirmed the bad news to us:

For me it will not be possible; I am not in a position to face it with any chance of winning. If I race, it is to try to win; if I cannot fight for that, I stay at home. The nerve will take 1 or 2 months to recover, but I will get back up.

After thinking it over at length, I do not feel physically prepared to face the Dakar with guarantees. I want to thank everyone involved in this project for their human support, for understanding the situation and for helping us get to this point. It is not an easy situation for me, and I waited until the last minute before making this decision. It has been two months of very hard, exhausting work, racing against the clock, not only by me but by all the people involved, whom I want to thank once again for everything they have done, in an attempt to arrive at the start with minimum conditions, but, I am very sorry to say, it will not be possible.

We must not forget that the Dakar is the toughest race in the world. Together with Doctor Mir, of the Dexeus University Institute, and Doctor Turmo, of the CAR in Sant Cugat, we carried out various stress tests to determine the current state of my left shoulder, without obtaining the results we wanted. But I want to make it very clear that this is a pause. I have fallen, it is not the first time and it will not be the last. I have always got back up, and every time we have, we have come back stronger. Marc Coma is here for the long haul.

The truth is that if Coma is not in a position to compete for victory, there is no point in suffering through an event like this, and for him, a three-time winner, finishing is no objective at all, so he will have to recover and wait for next year.

Although Coma’s withdrawal is bad news, we will keep following the Dakar, which is now more open and perhaps easier for Cyril Despres, although we will have to keep a close eye on the many other Spanish riders who have already performed well on previous occasions and who, without Coma, will now receive much more attention.

Via | Plus Moto