Philip Deignan, seen here leading the Team Sky train at the Tour Down Under in January is back in action tomorrow at the Coppi Bartali stage race in Italy.
By Gerard Cromwell
After breaking his collarbone in mid-February, Philip Deignan is back in action tomorrow and is optimistic about his chances of riding the Giro d’Italia when the three-week tour begins in Belfast on May 9th.
Having broken his left collarbone for the second time on a rain-soaked Tour of Britain stage last September, Deignan broke his right collarbone just over six weeks ago when he ran into the back of a car that stopped suddenly in front of him on a descent.
“I was going down a hill, coming into a little village,” Deignan said today.
“The motorway was closed that day and there was a lot of traffic and a couple of cars locked up on the descent. The car in front of me slammed on and I didn’t have time to stop.”
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After discussion between his Team Sky specialist in Manchester and a specialist at his training base in Monaco, it was decided that an operation would have been awkward and it was best to let the break heal naturally.
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“The break was too close to the AC joint, so it would have been a complicated surgery and they decided it was better to let it heal," said the the Letterkenny pro.
"It’s been a long, slow process but the team has been great and they’ve done everything they can to help. If I have any issues I can just walk 200metres down the road to see a specialist whenever I want.”
“I had a week or ten days off the bike at home in Letterkenny and then flew back out here again for a week on the turbo and then, in the last three weeks, I’ve got some decent training in.
"I’ve been doing some general work to try and strengthen up the right shoulder again but it’s incredible how much strength you lose by not being able to use your arm for two or three weeks.
"Because the bone is healing naturally, it’s been a very gradual thing. After the first three weeks I was cracking up a little bit because things weren’t improving but now, in the last fortnight, I’ve seen a big, big improvement.”
With the Giro start looming, Deignan is keen to get back in action and will tackle the four-day Italian stage race Coppi et Bartali tomorrow.
“You just know it’s always going to be hard, your first race back, so the sooner I can get it over with, the better. The main difficulty is going to be getting out of the saddle, accelerating and stuff like that. I should be able to race, but when I get out of the saddle it’s still painful.
"Sprinting and small things like trying to bunny hop over a ramp or hitting a bit of rough road is still sore so I have to be kind of cautious when I race, not to be taking any chances. I’m going to the race to get through it, get some racing legs from it.”
Having got the bus from Letterkenny to watch the Tour de France start in Dublin in 1998, Deignan knows the opportunity to ride a Grand Tour in Ireland doesn’t come around too often and is keen to be on the Team Sky squad for this year’s event.
“I’m still really optimistic about being there, but it’s going to take time to build up again. We’re still six or seven weeks out and a lot can happen in that period."
"Hopefully with the Coppi-Bartali and either a training camp in Tenerife or the Tour of the Basque Country and the Giro del Trentino afterwards, I can get back in shape. It’s been a long slow process. I still feel I’ve got a lot of time to make the Giro, but I have to start now to get the ball rolling.”
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