Takes: “We weren’t even sure that Ken was going to race at the beginning of the week”| Roczen Battles Shoulder Injury in Birmingham

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Coming out of the off week, Ken Roczen had little margin for error. He trailed Cooper Webb by 26 entering round 10 in Birmingham, Alabama, and could ill afford any mistakes. Despite six podiums over the first nine rounds, Roczen’s 21st in Tampa loomed larger in the championship chase.

Then, on Saturday, we learned just eight days prior, Ken had sustained a AC separation in his shoulder in a practice crash. Per The Steadman Clinic, when an AC separation occurs in the shoulder, the clavicle (collar bone) separates from the scapula (shoulder blade) and generally does not require surgery, but there was a time at the beginning of the week that the team thought Ken may not race in Birmingham, according to team manager Larry Brooks.

“It was a tough weekend. The track was really good, one of the better tracks we’ve had this year, but Ken Roczen had an injury coming in and it was a bit of struggle,” said Brooks, in a team press release. “We weren’t even sure that Ken was going to race at the beginning of the week. So for him to race, and finish fifth overall – these Triple Crowns are quite hectic – it’s like a win to us right now. So, he lost a couple points, one point on the rider in the lead right now, but he’s still in the title hunt, and that’s really good.”

Despite the injury, Ken gutted through the night to finish fifth overall. But in a season that once looked like a title could be in the future, Ken trails Cooper Webb by more than a full race, as he sits 27 points back heading into Seattle this Saturday.

“It was a tough weekend for us here in Birmingham,” said Roczen. “I had a practice crash a week ago and separated my AC joint a little bit. We rode press day to see how it felt, and it was pretty decent, but throughout the day on Saturday if definitely got worse. As we got deeper into the night it became a pain battle. But we made it through, ended up fifth on the night, and only lost one point in the championship. All things considered, we had a pretty good night and fought really hard. The Triple Crowns are now over and we’re back to regular races, and we still have a few rounds to go. I’m going to do my best to heal everything up during the week and try to just show up next weekend better than this weekend.”

Does Ken have one last charge or has another title escaped him?

UPDATE

Ken posted a lengthy update regarding his injury on his IG account today:

On Friday the 14th i ran out of talent for a quick second and separated my AC joint in my right shoulder.

I didn’t talk about it because i didn’t want to pre set my weekend with negativity while i didn’t even know how it’s going to be for riding.

I wanted to ride press day because i needed time on the bike and i needed to feel out the shoulder. It felt weak and painful with certain movements.

My shoulder was a bit worse than on press day for the first practice so i was really just doing the jumps that were the easiest and least amount of stress.

After doing a couple hot laps for the first time in Q1 my shoulder got worse the more stress i put on it. Thinking that Q2 was going to be quicker as per usual. I went out and i jumped into the whoops and i somehow ended up wheel tapping and it janked my bike and my shoulder got a massive stinger so i retired for that one. I didn’t have much leverage as my right elbow was tucked into my body for riding so i couldn’t really correct or if i did it really hurt.

None the less, race time is the only thing that matters so i went into the night show and was fired up about racing.

In race 1 I had to pull up in a rhythm lane to triple one time and it really hurt my shoulder. It made my shoulder feel weaker and more limp.

Race 2 went average and for Race 3 i really wanted to put my head down one more time and put it as far up front as i could.

I cased the triple a bit across from the finish going into the turn and it just smashed my shoulder pretty good again. I ended up bringing it home in 4th. The triple crown was the worst situation for it as well but i m glad they are now done.

It absolutely sucks that the situation is the way it is but we pull through as we always do. It’s really stressed from the weekend so for now i just have to show up on the weekends and race and hope that it recovers decently from week to week.

Images: @octopi.media