Five minutes with Mitch Evans
On March 31, Mitch Evans (Team HRC Honda) underwent surgery on his right shoulder in Brisbane, Australia, where the Honda rider is now recovering. The doctors' initial prognosis was good and it was expected that he would recover completely and quickly. We caught up with Mitch, who finished third in his very first MXGP race, to see how he's doing now…
You had the operation last week, what about the shoulder now and how are you dealing with it?
Mitch Evans:Now I just have to have the shoulder repaired and the cartilage reattached to the bone. I do have small exercises that the physio gave me after I saw him in the studio yesterday for my weekly check-up. He was very happy with my range of motion and I have double the range that anyone would normally have a week after surgery, so that is a very positive sign. He gave me these exercises and I followed his advice. I don't have that much pain, so it doesn't even feel like I've had surgery. I have also kept in touch with Filippo (ed. Camaschella) the Team HRC physio and he is also very happy with the progress so it all looks positive. I keep it easy, but do these four different exercises four times a day and that's the only time I move my shoulder. They are quite simple movement exercises.”
What about the rest of your body, are you able to exercise and stay fit?
Evans: “I can still ride a bike, but I can't run or anything. I can apply force to any other part of my body as long as I don't use my shoulder. I started indoor cycling two days ago and am slowly building back up as I haven't really done much since I dislocated my shoulder. I just want to maintain my base fitness and then once my shoulder starts to feel a lot better, I want to add some more intense workouts to try to replicate the bike time I'm missing. Right now it's low intensity, just to get the body moving again.”
As for the schedule, are you working on the shoulder schedule or are you looking at the MXGP calendar and trying to recover for that?
Evans: “I'm just focusing on my shoulder and the timeline that my doctors and physio have set out for me. I'm not really worried about the MXGP calendar at the moment because honestly I don't know when the next race is likely. That is why it makes sense to only check what I can check. However, I hope that by the time we are racing again, I will have been on the bike for a while.”
Is there already a plan to return from Australia or is that not yet an option?
Evans: “I don't think anyone really has an idea at the moment of how it will evolve. That's why we're taking it day by day and seeing what the governments say. It will come down to when we are allowed to leave the country again, or even whether I can return to other countries without a quarantine period.”
You're home most of the time now, have you found anything else to pass the time?
Evans: “We recently did jigsaw puzzles at home, 1000 piece puzzles and they take up a lot of time! We're on our second one now, so I'm trying to keep the boredom away that way. It's like we're little kids again, playing board games at home and not having much to do! It's a difficult situation, but I'm also looking into whether there's something I can study from home, we'll see how that goes. I'm thinking of doing something like scientific theory behind nutrition, something along those lines, which can help me with my career right now and also help me move forward after my racing career.”
Any last words for your fans?
Evans: “I think it's just important that everyone follows government guidelines during this difficult period. Of course it's easy for me to say this now, but the FIM message of #RidersAtHome is an important message to follow because this period will come to an end. Once this is over, we can drive again without any problems. It is important that people stay safe and simply avoid unnecessary risks. Personally, that will make the return to racing even sweeter when it is allowed again!”
Tekst: David Bulmer
Photos: shotByBavo
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