It was shocking to see footage of Remco Evenepoel’s horrific crash in Il Lombardia. Reports indicate that he broke his pelvis after falling from a bridge into a ravine. This follows the injuries sustained by his Deceuninck-QuickStep team mate Fabio Jakobsen in the Tour of Poland.
The video above shows the repairs to my pelvis carried out by the specialist team at St George’s Hospital. My accident was less spectacular than Remco’s, I just hit a large pothole, while riding in the Kent lanes last March. It took the ambulance two and a half hours to arrive, as this was just at the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis. In fact, lock-down was announced on the evening of my crash. There was a lot of uncertainty about the virus back then, so it was a pretty scary time to be in hospital. Nevertheless I have immense respect and gratitude for the NHS staff who looked after me.
I was given crutches the day after the operation and returned home the day after that, with strict instructions to remain non-weight-bearing on the injured leg for six weeks and then only partial weight-bearing for the next six weeks. An NHS physiotherapist contacted me and regularly provided a progression of exercises. I set myself additional challenges, like doing extra press-ups.
After six weeks of doing no proper exercise, I had lost 4kg. The circumference of my left thigh was 5cm less than the right. However, following a review at the hospital, I was given permission to start gentle exercise on my static turbo trainer. I began by removing the left pedal and performing single leg drills, but after a couple of days it was easier to put my injured leg on the pedal as a passenger. This also gave the hip some mobility.
After a week on the turbo, I was up to one hour a day at about 160 watts. It took a long time to increase this above 200 watts. I watched a lot of old cycling films, without any particular urge to go on Zwift. I started riding outside in mid-June, 12 weeks post op. My Garmin pedals allowed me to monitor the left-right balance as well as average power.The following chart shows that 21 weeks after my accident, balance is hovering around 48:52 and five minute power is back over 300 watts.
The psychological aspect of rehabilitation has been very important. I have focussed on targets and deadlines, marking each little achievement as a milestone. I am now walking without a limp, though running is still off limits. I even went kitesurfing a couple of weeks ago (don’t tell my surgeon about that one). I have been busy learning Italian, composing music and programming in Python.
Since heading back out on the roads, I have been riding cautiously, as my hip will not regain full strength until next spring. I plan to enter a couple of time trials to rekindle a sense of competition, without the danger of riding in a peloton. Racing again next season remains a goal.
Probably the most important mental aspect has been to stay positive at all times and never to spend time feeling sorry for oneself. This has been difficult as, inevitably, there have been a couple of set-backs when progress has seemed to reverse. But on the whole, my recovery has been astounding and, like Chris Froome, I remain optimistic about regaining my peak.
Remco will be back on the road next season, with the potential to pick up some results later in the year.
Science4Performance 