Seven days ago he was celebrating the biggest win of his career after he soloed to victory in the national road race championships but now Damien Shaw faces a period off the bike after breaking his collar bone in Majorca on Thursday.
By Brian Canty
Less than a week after being crowned national senior road race champion, Damien Shaw has broken his collar bone while out training with the Irish track squad in Majorca.
The Team ASEA man was having an easy day on the bike last Thursday, just one day after joining the squad, when he collided with a pedestrian who failed to spot him.
Having crashed hard, he was treated by hospital staff on the island.
The diagnosis was a broken collar bone, though it was said to be a "clean break" meaning his period of forced lay-off will be as short as possible.
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However, he still faces a number of weeks out of training and a longer period away from racing.
It is a big blow for Shaw as he is clearly in superb shape, with some suggesting a spell of racing and training abroad could throw him right into contention for a place on the Irish team at the World Championships later in the year.
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His chances of selection would have depended on a large team qualifying and while it was a long shot, he will not have to rethink the remainder of his season.
Despite his many wins and other strong performances, it has been a turbulent and incident-packed year so far for the Mullingar man.
In the early part of the season he crashed hard on the track in Majorca and though didn’t break any bones, it was a very nasty spill while going full-tilt on the boards.
That was followed by fracturing his right shoulder while just about to contest a sprint to the finish in the VisitNenagh Classic in late April.
Many felt that would rule him out for the An Post Rás but he got himself right and went close to stage glory on three consecutive days, coming second twice and third on the final three stages.
His day in the sun came on the big stage last weekend when he took the national crown in Omagh, Co Tyrone.
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