A muddy, wild opening round of the British Downhill Series was a little more wild for European enduro champion Harriet Harnden. The Trek Factory Racing rider was trying to manage a flat rear tire during her seeding run in Rheola when she caught a root protruding onto the course. Or, more accurately, the root caught her.
The root impaled Harnden, going through her shoe and fully through her foot. Since the root was still firmly attached to the ground, this sent the Trek racer OTB. Harnden says she finished her run before assessing the damage.
“Didn’t realise the extent of my injury until I cross the finish line and instantly realised something was definitely wrong,” the British downhill champ shared. “After a thorough scrub in hospital, a few stitches and a box of drugs, I’m back together. Fortunately the root missed most of the important stuff, all bones are in tact. However it did break a ligament to one of my toes, luckily very minor.”
The twist? Because she finished her seeding run, Harnden actually ended up on the podium. Weather in Rheola was so muddy and awful that BDS had to cancel Sunday’s finals runs. That meant the Trek racer’s seeding run counted as a finals run and, despite having a literal hole in her foot for part of it, was good enough for a podium placing.
Amazingly, a similar incident derailed Isabeau Courdurier’s 2022 enduro season. Though the French woman didn’t end up on the podium in that event.
Hopefully Harnden heals up quickly as the first round of the Enduro World Cup is coming up quickly. After finishing third overall in 2023 (before tacking on a Downhill World Cup podium at Mont-Sainte-Anne) the TFR rider is poised for another big season.
You can see more photos of Harnden’s foot below, though they are somewhat graphic.
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