It’s a big step up to the World Tour. I’m in my first professional career with CCC Team and the first few races have been a bit of a shock. When I lined up in Spain in February, I hadn’t raced for 8 months after breaking my femur last year. So even if I raced at a lower level this year, it would have been a shock.
In March I did Paris Nice and I expected the windy stages to be tough – which it was – but when we’d finished those, I thought it would get better. It didn’t. I remember sitting at the back of the peloton, last wheel, just waiting for a group to sit up so I’d have someone to ride with to the finish. I thought to myself, “I have three more days of this, how am I going to do this?”
It’s a hard transition to the World Tour from the u23 ranks. I’ve been lucky enough to talk to a lot of people who’ve do it before me. Tao Geoghegan Hart is a former teammate who has been super supportive. He is someone who has been really successful in his time as a pro so he has encouraged me, telling me it will get better. He is close enough to my age for me to relate to him. I have older people encouraging me, but you can relate to it more when it’s someone closer in age.
Finishing top 10 in the time trial in the Tour de Romandie really meant a lot to me. I thought I could do pretty well, but I didn’t expect to go that well. It was a confidence booster. The result showed me I’m back at the level where I can compete again and have an impact on the races. It’s encouraged me as a young guy to know I have the fitness to be there and now I want to keep developing as a whole rider and make an impact on the racing for my team.
I’ve seen how fast it can be over, so this opportunity is not something I take for granted. I’m not totally sure how I broke my femur last year but I remember the peloton had split. It came back together and two guys were fighting for some wheels then went down in front of me. I went over the top of them.
“I decided I would still give my all to go pro and keep fighting.”
I remember sitting in the hospital in Italy and the hospital staff saying you should stop being a cyclist. If you take risks and an injury like this happens again it will be very bad for you. So, I started thinking, I’m done. My career is over before it even began.
For the first 2 – 3 days I thought the break was more in the joint. I got medical advice from the U.S. which said the guys in Italy need to operate within two days or the bone will die from lack of blood flow. I only had the surgery 3 – 4 days later and started wondering what life would look like if I couldn’t ride again.
I decided I would still give my all to go pro and keep fighting.
This first one is the day I left the hospital in Italy. It was the first day outside in over a week and it felt so nice to be out there. 
This was using google translate to figure things out with the hospital staff in Italy. 
This was when I could first ride and exercise recumbent bike.
I’d been getting some interest from World Tour teams before the crash then a lot of that went away. It’s understandable. A World Tour contract is an investment for teams and when you have someone who is broken, it doesn’t make sense.
So naturally, it means the world to me that CCC Team and Jim Ochowicz had the confidence in me to still offer me a contract. When I got the call from my agent, we were having a family reunion. It was very strange because the night before he called, my grandma fell and broke her right femur as well. There were mixed emotions. Luckily it was all ok with her. Getting the call, I couldn’t believe it. It made me realize how much I want it and how much I want to be part of the World Tour.
Every day is a big opportunity for me. I’m not putting too much pressure on myself but the crash and facing the possible end of my career has given me perspective. I’m lucky to be here and I really want to make the most of it.
Photos: Chris Auld
Tags: ccc team, Jim Ochowicz, tao geoghegan hart, will barta Last modified: Jan 19, 2020
