By Louise Hickey
Fiona Mangan's delight at winning bronze in the recent National Road Championships was clear to see. But behind the smiles and congratulatory back slaps was a great story of overcoming adversity to even make the start line in Kanturk.
IBCT rider Mangan had crashed heavily less than three weeks earlier in Belgium, breaking her collarbone in two places. Surgery to have the bones pinned meant she was able to make a quick return to the bike.
However, the short 19-day gap between breaking her collarbone and winning bronze at the championships in Kanturk wasn't enough for a full recovery. And so Mangan went into the event with cuts and bruises, but at least with a collarbone pinned into one piece.
That she emerged with a medal from such a challenging road race after what she'd just been through was nothing short of miraculous.
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This season has been full of bad luck for Mangan, through crashes, Covid-19 and other illnesses picked up along the way. However, taking a medal from the nationals - behind team mates Alice Sharpe and Mia Griffin - suggests further progress despite her bad luck.
“I’ve had a really turbulent season since January, so it was nice to have something to show, and my consistency and hard work did pay off in the end. It can be hard to see that sometimes when you’re dealing with injuries” she said.
Mangan had been competing in the GP Mazda Schelkens in Belgium on June 6th when a stall in the bunch after an immediate sprint resulted in a major crash. The 26-year-old Irish woman was one of the victims but was determined to simply get back up and onto her bike to continue.
“It’s funny, cycling is one of the few sports where you can crash, yet get up and still win the race. It’s all about getting back up and just keeping going,” she said.
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However, there would not 'just keep going that day'. Mangan got to her feet and grabbed her bike. When she realised her shifter was hanging off she put her hand up for mechanical assistance - resulting in the unmistakable sting of a broken collarbone immediately making its presence felt.
Mangan was immediately taken to hospital where she received X-ray results that confirmed her collarbone was broken in two different places, with her bones overlapping one another. She was unable to sleep the night before surgery because of the pain.
Luckily, she was able to undergo surgery the next day, by Belgian medics well practiced at putting cyclists back together again. Mangan had a titanium plate and eight screws fixed to her broken bones.
On the Wednesday morning, less than 48 hours after her crash, she was discharged from the hospital. She was eager to get back to training. Already sick of sitting around after two days off the bike, she gave her body another brief period to heal and was back on the home trainer on Friday, June 10th, just four days after her crash.
“As a cyclist, you’re ambitious and you’re always thinking about the next step and the step after that,” said Mangan. However, it would be 10 days after her crash before she was able to hit the open road and resume full training again, just in time for the nationals.
“I’ve had so many crashes this season and got a bad dose of Covid-19 back in January. I was sick for six weeks. Breaking my collarbone was just the cherry on top, there’s only so much bad luck you can have,” she said.
“My immune system was quite weak after Covid too; so I had coughs and colds every two weeks. If things went well this season, I would be at a much higher level of fitness and I would have performed better in all my races,” she said.
She is now recovered and rode the Lotto Belgium Tour the week before last with her trade team, finishing 57th overall after the three-stage event. She experienced some jitters on the opening stage as it was the first time she was back in a bunch since her crash. Mangan’s next big goal is the Rás na mBan on home turf in Ireland.
“Last year I did the race with an Irish team, and it was just one of the best experiences ever, so I would love to get a stage win there. That’s my main target,” she said.
