Swiss cyclist Elise Chabbey has swapped her bike for a stethoscope as she helps the fight against the coronavirus outbreak.
Chabbey, 26, rides for WorldTour team Bigla-Katusha but is also a qualified doctor and with all racing currently suspended, she has instead been at the Geneva University Hospital to lend a hand.
“Doing nothing is not really in my nature,” Chabbey said on the team’s website. “What’s happening now is unprecedented and given the severity of the situation, I feel like I have to do something.”
Chabbey, who finished fifth overall in the Tour of Scotland last year and was 21st in the World Championship road race in Yorkshire in September, was due to be racing in the Belgian classics this month.
Instead, she has been working as a medical intern treating a number of patients, including some who have the coronavirus, while trying to keep up her training schedule between shifts as she continues to target this year’s World Championships on home soil – assuming they go ahead as planned in September.
“This week I had nine patients, and we anticipate there will be larger numbers coming to us over the next few days,” Chabbey said.
“When this crisis has abated, I’ll know that I tried to do my part and I hope I’ll be proud of that.
“I think that doing this now will actually help me mentally. And when racing eventually commences again, I’ll be more than ready and completely motivated to join my team-mates back on the road.”
