Probably smarts a bit

Keen UCI World Cup watchers may have noticed the absence from the last two World Cup events in Canada and Brazil of current World Champion Fabien Barel.

It turns out that he's spanged himself up a bit while filming for the next New World Disorder film (which must be, what, NWD37? We forget) in Italy. A crash caused a fairly significant cut arm that took 28 stitches (15 in the muscle) to put back together again. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he wasn't totally up to World Cup downhilling after that, so he's off having physiotherapy and aiming to be at full speed to defend his World title in New Zealand.

He'll be riding at the Nordic Finnish Championships at the Kona Bike Park of Levi, Finland on 22/23 July, though.