“All I can do now is be patient”: Victor Koretzky undergoes third surgery as he continues to struggle with the injury that has kept him out all year

The Frenchman Victor Koretzky has just shared a new update on the injury that has completely marked his 2026 season. The Specialized Factory Racing rider has had to undergo another operation on his left humerus, this time to treat a nonunion that is preventing the proper healing of the fracture he suffered in April. After at least three surgical interventions and a single timely return to competition, his recovery continues to be incomplete.

From dominating the world Short Track to missing almost the entire season

It is hard to imagine such a complicated 2026 for Victor Koretzky considering the level he had shown during the previous two seasons. The Frenchman closed 2025 by defending his world champion title in Short Track, achieved for the first time in 2024, and being one of the great references in international XCO.

His 2024 season had been particularly brilliant. In addition to winning the silver medal at the Paris Olympic Games and being crowned world champion in XCC in Andorra, Koretzky won the overall Short Track classification of the World Cup, with four victories in Araxá, Nové Město, Lake Placid, and Mont-Sainte-Anne. In XCO, he also won in Lake Placid and stood on the podium in Mairiporã, Araxá, and Mont-Sainte-Anne, finishing second in the overall classification.

In 2025, he maintained that level, although with more ups and downs. He won the XCO in Araxá, accumulated four second places in Short Track, and ended up winning the XCC in Lenzerheide. His best moment came again at the World Championship, where he claimed his second consecutive XCC title and won bronze in XCO.

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Everything pointed to him being among the top favorites in 2026. His season start reinforced that impression when he achieved his sixth victory in Banyoles, finishing ahead of Dario Lillo and Luca Schwarzbauer after deciding the race with an attack on the last lap.

However, just a few weeks later, with less than a month to go before the start of the World Cup, a fracture in the left humerus completely changed his plans. Koretzky had to undergo surgery and began a recovery that initially seemed like it would only keep him out of the early events on the calendar. The reality turned out to be much more complicated.

A recovery full of setbacks and a single return at the World Championship

In the following months, Koretzky delayed his return to competition. First, it was expected that he could return in June, but his name did not appear on an entry list until July, when his possible return at the World Cup in Andorra was announced. Ultimately, he was also unable to start in Pal Arinsal.

In August, he generated expectations again by traveling to Les Gets with his team and acknowledging that he could now train on the mountain bike. However, he did not compete there either. Shortly after, Koretzky himself explained that he had to undergo surgery again, just four weeks prior, although he maintained hope of returning for the World Championship in Val di Sole.

And this time he did manage to wear a number. The Frenchman only competed in the Short Track event at the World Championship, where he finished in a modest 34th position, due to the lack of strength still in his arm, as he explained himself. Since then, he has not returned to competition.

Koretzky confirms a new operation to treat a humeral nonunion

Now, when the 2026 season has already ended, Koretzky has shared another update on his physical condition on Instagram. And the news confirms that his recovery is still far from complete.

The Frenchman explained that in recent weeks he has tried to make the most of his time with his family before undergoing another operation. A necessary intervention to treat a humeral nonunion, a complication that occurs when a fracture does not heal properly.

In this new intervention, the surgeons had to remove the nail that was placed during the first operation and perform a bone graft using bone taken from his own iliac crest, in the pelvis. Additionally, they placed a new plate directly on the humerus to promote the healing of the fracture.

This is, therefore, an intervention aimed at promoting the consolidation of the bone after several months in which the recovery has not progressed as expected.

With this latest operation, Koretzky has now undergone at least three surgical interventions since he suffered the fracture last April.

The Frenchman acknowledges that he is facing another stage of a process that is becoming particularly lengthy. His message, however, maintains a tone of patience and determination:

"Now all that is left is to be patient, give the bone time to rebuild, and continue progressing day by day."

The goal is to recover Koretzky for the 2027 World Cup

For now, Koretzky has not announced a date for his return nor has he established a recovery schedule after this latest intervention.

What seemed like an injury that would only keep him out of the early events of the World Cup has turned into an absence from practically the entire season, with a single timely return at the Short Track World Championship.

Now begins a new stage of recovery in which the priority will be to ensure that the humerus heals properly before facing the demands of competitive MTB again.

Hopefully, the upcoming months of autumn and winter will allow him to definitively leave this injury behind and we can see one of the great specialists in international XCO and XCC at the starting line of the 2027 World Cup.