Jonas Abrahamsen will line up at the Tour de France this Saturday despite suffering a broken collarbone just over a week ago, in what he and his team are calling a near-miraculous recovery.
The 29-year-old Norwegian crashed heavily on stage one of the Baloise Belgium Tour, initially casting huge doubt over his participation. Yet after a rapid assessment and treatment plan, Abrahamsen has been cleared to start the Tour as part of Uno-X Mobility’s squad.
“I went and saw a specialist in Manchester to look at it,” he explained. “The doctor checked me and he was very, very happy. He was saying that this isn’t normal – a collarbone recovery can usually take more than eight weeks. He was pretty surprised at my situation. I am super human.”
The Tour has been Abrahamsen’s main target since last November, and he admitted the crash came at the worst possible moment. “It was such a shit time to then crash in Belgium, but that’s cycling sometimes,” he said. “I did not then have much hope of being able to go to the Tour, but every day since then has been fast. I’ve got better and better, which is crazy.”
Crucially, the fracture was at the end of the collarbone rather than the middle, which helped speed up the recovery. He was able to get back on his bike sooner than expected and has trained outdoors in the past few days. “I’ve been so lucky,” he said. “At the Tour I will try to get in the breakaway again now. We have a lot of strong guys, sprinters and others, but if I can get in the breaks again, then I will for sure try.”
Abrahamsen was a standout for Uno-X in last year’s race, spending ten days in the polka-dot jersey after repeated breakaway efforts. He’s expected to resume that aggressive role in the coming weeks.
When asked what was behind his rapid return to racing, Abrahamsen pointed to the fundamentals. “I eat healthy, I did everything perfect with training, eating and sleeping so anything was possible for me in the end,” he said. “Maybe I’m a super hero,” he joked. “It’s not very often that stuff like this happens and you recover quickly, so maybe my body is different. I think having positivity in this situation is important, you should never give up when injured. Trust yourself and your body and the rest will come.”
The Tour de France begins on Saturday 5th July in Lille, with Abrahamsen ready to prove he’s lost none of his breakaway ambition.
