When Anna Henderson broke her collarbone for the second time this season on April 28, it was the considered the Paris 2024 Olympics that stored her motivated, with the Brit paying again everybody who helped her return to kind with a surprising silver medal efficiency in Saturday’s time trial.
It was on the Vuelta España Femenina the place Henderson crashed within the finale 3km of stage 1 and broke her collarbone once more, after struggling the identical harm on February 15 on her first race day of the 12 months in Valenciana.
However after lacking a lot of the spring Classics the place she’s carried out effectively up to now, Henderson has turned the distress round into the most important results of her profession.
“I used to be just about on my bike like three days after surgical procedure, again indoors,” Henderson mentioned on the end in Paris.
“The second mentally harm so much, and it actually took so much to get again and get the motivation once more. However I all the time had Paris on my thoughts and that actually carried me by way of.”
Whereas the fixed rain and slippery moist roads did for the likes of Chloé Dygert (USA) and Lotte Kopecky (Belgium), who crashed within the a part of the course across the Bois de Vincennes park, Henderson stored her run on the 32.4km course clear, powering by way of the time checks and dropping out solely to the dominant Grace Brown (Australia).
“I did not notice how slippery it was on the market till I used to be on the course. And I assumed ‘I can lose an entire Olympic Video games in a single nook right here’. You acquire all your time for the straight so I actually took management,” Henderson mentioned. “And my coach did a extremely good job to maintain me calm the entire approach by way of and preserve me pushing till the tip.”
For Henderson, it was a dream soar as much as second on the rostrum after the considered not making her debut on the Olympics crossed her thoughts when she sustained her second collarbone fracture. Nevertheless, after returning to racing in June and performing effectively on house soil, Henderson was quietly assured she might problem for a medal. Simply possibly not a silver one.
“It was a extremely low level of my season. However I’ve actually bounced again shortly and I might win on the nationals and have a extremely good trip on the Tour of Britain,” Henderson mentioned. “I had a extremely good run into this with an altitude camp and every thing so actually proud of my kind and trip right now.
“I had half an eye fixed and a dream on the rostrum [but] I did not suppose I might come this far into the rostrum.”
Henderson burdened her gratitude to all these round her all through post-race interviews, notably dad and mom Janet and John and boyfriend Olly Moors, who had been all current in Paris to witness her outstanding success after a troublesome season.
“I am actually grateful for everyone round me that received me right here and everybody that received me by way of right now,” Henderson mentioned. “I do know I needed to simply flip the pedals, however there’s an entire, big group of people who received me right here and I am actually proud to be right here.”
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