PHOTO
Queenstown pro cyclist Reuben Thompson is looking forward to finishing his season strongly after overcoming surgery and a rushed build-up to the Vuelta a Espana.
The 25-year-old returned to full training this week after finishing the gruelling three-week stage race across Spain — one of cycling’s three Grand Tours — on September 13.
Speaking to Mountain Scene from his Andorra base, Thompson says he is feeling mentally fresh heading into the last month of his season.
“It was nice to be racing again and having an impact on the race, because earlier this year I didn’t feel too flash.”
He had iliac artery surgery in early May to deal with a build-up of scar tissue in the arteries supplying his legs — a condition not uncommon with pro riders — that had been affecting his performance earlier in the season.
He was confined to bed for two weeks and then unable to ride for another three, before gradually building up his time on the bike.
Resuming full training in July, he initially had to ride on his own because he could not keep up with his team-mates, he says.
“So to go from that to racing the Vuelta, I was pretty happy.
“There were times there a month earlier when I really thought I wouldn’t make the start line.”
Finishing the 3283km race, which has more elevation than the Tour de France and many steep climbs and summit finishes, has given him confidence heading into the final weeks of the season.
He will race a series of one-day classics in Italy with his team from next Saturday, then head to China for the six-day Tour of Guangxi, the final WorldTour event of the season.
He expects that with the Vuelta and more training under his belt, he can “go up another level”.
Thompson finished 57th overall in the Vuelta, and was Lotto-Intermarche’s second-best finisher behind team leader Jarno Widar, who was 23rd.
He rates his team’s performance as “pretty good”, with top-five finishes on several sprint and mountain stages.
His own role changed during the second week, when team tactics gave him greater freedom to attack the mountain stages and join breakaways.
“There was a string of days there at the end of the second week when I felt super-good, and I was in the breakaway three days in a row.”
The Vuelta was the second Grand Tour of his career following his first appearance in the race two years ago, and comes in his fourth season as a WorldTour rider.
He was one of only three Kiwis in the race alongside George Bennett and close friend Finn Fisher-Black.
