Cyclo-Cross Racer Snaps Dislocated Finger Back Into Place Mid-Race

Canada’s Michael van den Ham suffered a serious dislocation of his finger during the Cyclo-Cross World Championships. The 30-year-old suffered the injury in the opening minutes of the men’s elite event in Hoogerheide, The Netherlands.

The cameras caught the Canadian in a high-speed crash. It could be clearly seen in the images that his right finger had dislocated at a 45-degree angle.

As he sat in the dirt with riders speeding past him, van den Ham then quickly composed himself before pulling his finger back into position.

The television cameras captured him snapping the dislocated finger back in place before remounting his bike to race on. Viewers heaped praises for the great courage shown by the Canadian Cyclo-Cross racer.

Michael van den Ham, a four-time national Cyclo-Cross champion, eventually finished 33rd in the 40-rider field after being pulled out of the race with two laps to go.

After finishing the ride, the Canadian splinted his finger with a ballpoint pen and some black electrical tape. He then took to his Instagram Stories to provide more details about the injured finger. Michael van den Ham described his dislocated finger’s image as “the grossest 45-degree angle”.

“I heard I dislocated my finger on TV and it’s true,” he said. “It popped out and was at the crudest 45-degree angle, my index finger on my pinky, my left hand. There was no way I could have done that outside of the first lap of the race, but I grabbed it, snapped it in, pinned it back in place and did the rest of the race. Crazy.”

Captioning a video of the incident on Instagram after the race, the Canadian wrote:

“Sometimes you just got to snap out of it. He told his Instagram followers that retiring early was “disappointing” but it gave him a chance to watch Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert sprint for the title “Which was like insane,” van den Ham said, “can’t believe it.”

Two of the biggest champions Mathieu van der Poel and Wout van Aert dominated the headline after their head-to-head battle.

In the end, it was Van der Poel who clinched victory after ten exciting race laps. The win earned Van der Poel his fifth rainbow jersey in the discipline.

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