Injury clinic on hand at Chorley Grand Prix

Masseur Sally Barker, from Clayton-le-Woods, will have an injury clinic set up at the start and finish point of the race in the town centre in Park Road.

She was the masseur for almost 200 athletes competing in 18 sports representing Great Britain at the Paralympic Games in Rio last summer.

Sally said: “Road cyclists can experience lower back pain if they lean on their handle bars and mountain bikers can get upper back pain.

“All cyclists use their quads and thighs dominantly when they are cycling so those muscles can get tight.

“We’ll be there to interact with clients and ask if they have any aches and pains to give advice and offer treatment.

“We deal with every sport and at various different levels.”

Sally runs her own private, sports massage and rehabilitation practices, SB Sports Massage, in Preston Road, Chorley as well as in Bolton and Leeds.

She has worked in elite sports for the last six years and her team can offer mobilisation techniques, exercise rehab, stretches and ways of strengthening muscles.

She has mostly worked with the British Cycling team but also swimming teams, squash teams, and a number of sports for disabled athletes.

Her practice also offers soft tissue massage at the centre near Chorley and South Ribble District General Hospital but she will not have a massage table set up at the Grand Prix.

Sally stressed that it is not just sports people who she treats.

“We can also help people who aren’t active and who sit at a desk all day and who might have back pain because of their posture, for example,” said Sally, who has been working as a qualified sports masseur for the last eight years.

“We are just there to give passers by advice and engage with them.”

It’s just one month to go until Chorley welcomes the country’s top cyclists on Saturday, April 15. Thousands of people from across the borough are expected to and cheer cyclists on as they take on the five lap, 115 mile route through Chorley.