Cataford on the road to repair following Vuelta crash

Canadian cyclist Alex Cataford was forced to abandon the Vuelta a España with a broken collarbone last week. Following the crash, the Israel Start-up Nation rider posted on Aug. 21 that he had successfully undergone surgery to repair the broken bone, taking a positive tone in his writing.

“Successful surgery yesterday to fix up the collarbone. Some damage to the ligaments will add to the recovery time, but that all starts today #lookahead #daybyday #recovery #optimism,” he wrote in an Instagram post. “Huge shout out to the team here atMünchen Klinik for taking care of me.”

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A post shared by Alex Cataford (@acataford)

Stage 2

On stage 2 of the Vuelta, there was a large crash in the middle of the peloton four kilometers from the finish line. The 27-year-old Ottawa rider went down along with a number of Bora-Hansgohe riders, Adam Yates (Ineos Grenadiers) and Hugh Carthy (EF Education–Nippo).

Cataford still managed to finish the stage, crossing the finish line eight minutes down and pushing through clear discomfort. His team later announced that he had suffered a broken collar bone and would not start stage 3.

Team support

“Get well soon, Alex!” Wrote the official Vuelta a España account on his post, while teammate Sep Vanmarcke commented a series of flexing arm emojis.

Cataford thanked the German hospital where he had the procedure done, so it appears that former teammate Rory Sutherland, who commented “I’ll do the surgery,” on Cataford’s first post about his collarbone, did not, in fact, get to do the surgery.