Rising British star Gloag returns full year after hit by driver while training

Thomas Gloag, the 22-year-old British rider with Team Visma | Lease a Bike, has spoken of the nightmare crash, and resulting kneecap injury, that has sideline him from racing for a year.

Though he was one of the stars of the international U23 scene before turning pro, with Jumbo Visma, midway through 2022, his time in the pro bunch last year was cut very short.

He was 6th overall, and won the young rider classification at Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana (2.Pro) and later rode the 2023 Giro, having won stages in his U23 days at Ronde de l’Isard (2.2U) and Tour de l’Avenir (2.Ncup).

However, after completing the Giro at the end of May last year, he went on to ride just one more race; the one-day Donostia San Sebastian Klasikoa (1.UWT) at the end of last July. He was then hit by a driver on a recovery ride and has not race since, but is now set to return at Czech Tour (2.1) on Thursday.

“I was riding home after a recovery training,” Gloag has said of the crash. “Suddenly, I was hit by a car, and I broke my kneecap. What I remember is looking at my left leg after the collision and seeing that my kneecap didn’t look right.

“At the moment, I feel happy and healthy again. I have completed a good training block. It feels like a victory that I can finally return to racing. A race is, of course, very different from training.

“I am looking forward to pinning a race number again and returning to the peloton with my teammates. I finally feel like a cyclist again. It was certainly not an easy time. However, with the support of many people, I managed to get through it.”

He added he weas now very much looking forward to getting back into racing at Czech Tour and would start by supporting his team mates.

“I am mainly focused on gaining race rhythm. Results are not the priority, and I shouldn’t expect that from myself either. We are starting with a balanced team where Johannes Staune-Mittet and Koen Bouwman will be the key riders for the general classification.”