The incredible comeback story of EF's Michael Valgren

Michael Valgren begins his big push forward from the breakaway, before going solo to win the stage at Tirreno Adriatico (Photo: Marco Alpozzi)

Michael Valgren (EF Education-EasyPost) looked like he was enjoying his podium champagne on Friday evening as he celebrated his victory on stage 4 of Tirreno-Adriatico (2.UWT) in Mombaroccio.

It was the Dane's first World Tour win since Amstel Gold  2018 and his first victory of any kind since Coppa Sabatini (1.Pro) in 2021.

The man he beat to victory in Italy 4½ years ago, Sonny Colbrelli, lost his career back in 2022 when a heart attack resulted in his collapse after a race. It almost cost him his life. Valgren's career could have gone the same way, cut short in his prime.

But when adversity of the cruellest kind came for him, he dug in. A World Tour rider since signing for Tinkoff-Saxo as a 22-year-old back in 2014, Valgren had to start again - going back to a UCI Continental team - when he crashed in France, at La Route d'Occitanie, in 2022.

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He sustained a fractured pelvis, dislocated hip and serious knee ligament damage - rupturing his ACL, his MCL, and the meniscus in his knee. It was a litany of injuries that would have ended the careers of other riders and which saw him miss eight months of racing.

Having been forced to wait until his pelvis healed before he could even stand up, he then suffered problems with moving and extreme pain in his leg.

However, having worked hard at rehab, he gradually got back on his bike and returned to racing, signing for EF Education-NIPPO Development Team, in 2023.

The idea of dropping down to the devo team was to ease himself back into the top tier, and for the U23 riders on the devo team to learn from him. However, such was his determination to get back to the top, he competed almost exclusively for the World Tour team in 2023.

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And though he has since come close to winning a race, many times, he finally did so today; getting clear in the breakaway, dropping them all and then holding off the general classification men by just 11 seconds after 140km on the attack.

"I think I've been back for quite a while. But, after my injury, it was hard to come back to my level and I was out for quite a time," he said after his victory today.

Michael Valgren savours his first win for more than four years, and his first World Tour victory since 2018, after an incredible comeback from a huge crash (Photo: Massimo Paolone)

"Then my old level wasn't high enough anymore, so I had to find a new level. I think I've now reached an even higher level. That's just the way cycling has been going the last few years. You just need to take a step up every year.

"It feels amazing to win. We train to win, and today I had amazing legs. To win this stage, such a hard stage, is a surprise. But it's nice, I'm happy."

The 34-year-old said he believed his attitude to racing had been a big strength, explaining if riders "lose that winning mentality, you might as well stop racing".

"I never lost that, even though it's been a while. At first, I believed that if I could do a final, then that's a small win for me. Then I worked hard so that I could maybe get a result and take something good out of the races. I had a great winter and even became a father. And I felt I was riding well this season.

"I'm not that young anymore. I feel young, but my birth certificate says something else. But hopefully I can live off this form for quite a while and maybe race a few years."

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