“With the photo, Marc wants to end speculation about his arm”, believes Alex Marquez

Marc Marquez's latest gym photo has been a major talking point among MotoGP riders ahead of the San Marino Grand Prix, with his brother Alex Marquez hoping it will put an end to speculation surrounding the injury.

Last Thursday, the reigning MotoGP champion shared a post on social media that included a shirtless photo of himself working out, providing a previously unseen view of the muscle atrophy in his right shoulder. The injury was sustained when Aprilia's Marco Bezzecchi crashed into him at the start of last year's Indonesian Grand Prix and has already required two surgeries, the most recent of which came two months ago.

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Journalists in Misano took the opportunity to ask Alex Marquez about the photo and his brother's decision to make the extent of the injury public.

"I think you have understood it wrong," he said. "In the end, it can become tiring to answer the same question at every grand prix. So, you publish the photo, and that settles the matter."

Some media outlets and online forums had suggested that the factory Ducati was exaggerating the severity of his injury or using it to justify some poor results, such as his difficult weekend at Silverstone.

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in response, Alex Marquez said: "I think it is the best way to settle it, to show what there is, the reality, not to hide it, or try to make people not know the reality. Because in the end, no matter how many words you say, or try to explain, there comes a point where people may not believe you, or may speculate.

"With a photo, they cannot speculate. I think that, for his peace of mind, Marc does not want to talk about the subject anymore. You publish the photo, you settle it, and you focus on the world championship, which is what he wants."

Marc Marquez

The Gresini rider believes the image also helps explain some of Marc's struggles during the 2026 season.

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"I think the photo explains many of the things that are being seen this year. A lot of people did not understand it, but it is the reality. The latest injury has changed him a lot, because you have already accumulated too much, but from the previous one [2020] he was already recovering for three years," he recalled.

"It is not just operating and boom, winning. Right now he is like this, and the doctors do not believe, as Samuel [Antuna] said, that he is going to recover the muscle mass, because there is a lot of atrophy from the number of times they have opened him up.

"But that is what there is. If he wants to continue racing, it is in his hands. And as I have always said, Marc is going to race until he wants to, and until he feels that the suffering is much greater than what he enjoys on the bike."

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Since undergoing his second operation, Marquez has nevertheless taken four victories, including three double wins, across six grands prix despite the condition of his shoulder.

"It is Marc Marquez. And I don't have much more of an answer for that either. I have always said that he is a very, very, very, very good guy," Alex added.

"In the end, he knows how to adapt, we have always said that he is like a chameleon for all situations. This is one of them.

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"If you see his body now, it is twisted. But it is twisted because he has to force other parts of his body much more."

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