The US national road race champion Timmy Duggan has made a rapid recovery from the injuries he suffered in the Santos Tour Down Under, and has returned to competition this week in the Presidential Tour of Turkey.
Duggan fell heavily on stage three of the Australian race and sustained fractures to his leg and shoulder. Although that was three months ago, he is already back racing and is pleased at his progress.
“It was not really the debut I wanted, to start the season at the Tour Down Under in a crash and breaking my leg and my collarbone,” he told VeloNation in the video interview below, carried out prior to the start of stage three of the race. “But I have had a really good, smooth recovery. Things are coming back, both in how my leg is feeling and my fitness as well. I am happy to be here in Turkey getting things back up to speed.”
When Duggan fell, he was facing an unknown amount of time away from competition. Aside from the need for his bones to heal, he also had to make sure there were no complications in terms of picking up any niggles by pushing things too quickly while, at the same time, building form.
That balancing act between easing along to avoid further issues while also going hard enough to get back into shape has worked out well for him.
“Being here in Turkey was kind of the best case scenario, really. So for me to be here, that means that everything has gone perfectly up to this point,” he said. “I am happy to get this quality stage race in before bigger goals like California coming up next month.”
Racing with Liquigas Cannondale last season, Duggan was very strong in how he was performing. He did some impressive work dragging the peloton along in chasing breakaways down, with his strength apparent in the Tour of California and other races.
When given the opportunity to seize his own chances he made the most of that, soloing to a superb victory in the US national championships.
That has been the high point of his career and he said that he is fired up to try to repeat the win again. “It has been a true honour. Every time you get out to ride and go training in the morning, you pull the stars and stripes over your head,” he said with satisfaction. “You remember that race and that win…it has been an absolute honour. I hope to keep wearing it for another year.”
In the video interview above Duggan discusses these topics, his move to a new team and his targets for the season.