Tough as nails: Jay Vine continues the Canberra tradition of developing incredibly resilient cyclists

In April this year, Jay Vine broke his neck in a crash during the Tour of the Basque Country.

The near-death experience was followed by concerns about whether he would ever walk again, let alone cycle at competition level.

Doctors revealed that he had suffered cervical and two thoracic vertebrae spine fractures but deemed that he didn’t require spinal surgery.

He had suffered injuries in crashes plenty of times before, but none as potentially life-threatening as this.

He was soon back on his bike competing five months after being admitted into intensive care, securing the King of the Mountain in the La Vuelta race.

In a sign of just how tough a cyclist he is, he crashed badly this week in the UCI World Road Cycling Individual Time Trial in Zurich.

He was in the bronze medal-winning position at the time and had seemingly crashed out of the race, but with blood running down his face, Jay was back on his bike, finishing in fifth place, 30 seconds away from bronze.

On Instagram, Jay expressed his disappointment: “It’s gut-wrenching to think what could have been. Silly mistake on a non-technical section of the course cost me potentially the bronze medal. I just went into a corner faster than I did in the course recon and ran out of road.”

Not to be daunted by the prospect of getting back on his bike, just days after crashing, Vine returned on Thursday (26 September) as part of Australia’s gold medal-winning mixed team relay at the World titles.

The mixed team also included fellow Canberran Michael Matthews, Grace Brown, Ben O’Connor, Brodie Chapman and Ruby Roseman-Gannon.

Toughness in sport is often referred to when talking about footballers playing with injury. Cyclists are just as tough.

Jay Vine’s recovery brought back memories of the efforts of a number of Canberra cyclists who have crashed during or in the lead-up to major races.

Mathew Hayman won the 2016 Paris-Roubaix six weeks after breaking his arm in a crash. He prepared for the 257-kilometre race, which included 29.2 kilometres of cobblestones, by cycling on a stationary bike and resting his cast on a ladder.

Chloe Hosking won the 2018 Commonwealth Games road cycling gold medal just days after crashing in the Tour of Flanders. The crash, at 60 kilometres an hour, left her hospitalised.

The following year, she suffered a concussion following a fall in the Ride London Classic.

Michael Matthews has suffered numerous injuries during his career, including the Paris-Nice race, where he went over the front of his handlebars at 45 kilometres an hour, suffering two fractures in his orbital as his face crashed onto the road.

He was back racing in the San Remo 13 days later.

Michael Rogers also crashed multiple times during his career, including a crash during Stage 8 of the Tour de France in 2007, where he suffered a broken collarbone. He got back on his bike.

He rode until the pain finally proved too much and he pulled out 35 kilometres from the stage finish.

Jay Vine is right up there alongside the likes of Hayman, Matthews, Rogers and Hosking when it comes to toughness.

And I would reckon most footballers would rather run into Jared Waerea-Hargreaves or run into the teeth of the All Black forwards than crash at 60 kilometres an hour before getting back on the bike and finishing the race.