Two weeks after he was knocked off his bike on a training ride, Chris Hamilton is working towards regaining the form that led his meteoric rise at the start of 2016.
The 20-year-old cyclist couldn’t help but win at the start of the year, earning a Bendigo Sports Star of the Year nomination as he rode his way to an Australian under-23 title, a strong finish in the Tour Down under and the white jersey in the Herald Sun Tour.
Hamilton had just returned from assisting teammate and fellow local Robbie Hucker to victory at the Tour of Taiwan, when he was struck by a car riding along High Street in Golden Square.
“I fractured my radius, which I need surgery on next week, I also have a fracture in my scaphoid, broke a number of ribs and had a partially collapsed lung,” he said.
“They said about six weeks is how long I would be off the bike, but I’ll get on the indoor trainer as soon as I can physically get on that and do a fair few sessions and then get on the bike whenever I can move my hand enough to do it safely.”
Hamilton had also just decided to forgo a planned trip to the United States, that would have seen him depart on the same day he had the accident.
“If I look back on all the things that have happened this year, I think anyone would be pretty happy with that,” he said.
“For this to happen obviously it sucks, but it’s part of the risk of being on the bike every day and I’m looking forward to getting back into training and the rest of the year.”
Words: Joel Peterson Photograph: Cycling News
