Brown suffered a fall on Stage 8 of the Giro Rosa, crashing hard in the gutter as the peloton prepared for a sprint finale. She remounted and finished the stage, but did not start the next day with significant shoulder pain and what was described as 'multiple wounds and a left shoulder contusion' from the team's post-race report.
Brown went into recovery so that she would be able to return fit and strong for the Olympics road race and time trial. The Camperdown local shone during the race against the clock, finishing fourth against the best riders, just kept from a medal by world champion Anna van der Breggen.
She said ahead of the Olympics that the rehabilitation had taken some time, but in the days preceding the Games, she was able to transition into her time trial position properly and said it felt that the problems were behind her at that point. However, the injury flared up again as Brown revealed in an Instagram post announcing that she wouldn't be competing for the rest of 2021.
"Off-season is here... much earlier than expected or desired," posted Brown on Instagram.
"What seemed to be a benign shoulder injury over a month ago, has stubbornly hung around and revealed itself as something more serious. My tendons have pulled some bone fragments from the head of my humerus and are preventing proper healing. Basically, I need surgery if I don't want a bung shoulder for life.
"I'm sad about all the good things I will miss, especially my final races with Team BikeExchange) and the Flanders World Championships. But I also need to remember that I've had such a good year up to this point, and I can be satisfied with that."
She has poked fun at her crash with good humour, featuring a funny montage of her falling in different contexts on
Brown was recently confirmed to be changing teams at the conclusion of the 2021 season, transferring to French WorldTour squad FDJ Nouvelle Aquitaine Futuroscope and joining fellow Australian Brodie Chapman.
She spoke of the move and of her 2021 season in a recent interview with David McKenzie, and of her pride at taking fourth at the Olympics.
