Two-time Grand Tour winner Egan Bernal will make his return to racing on Tuesday after seven months out of action following a serious training crash.
The INEOS Grenadiers rider was training near his home city of Bogota in January when he struck a parked bus while riding at high speed.
The collision left Bernal requiring surgery on his spine, while he also suffered two collapsed lungs, fractures in his right leg and kneecap, a broken thumb and a lost tooth.
Bernal spent several days in intensive care and later said the crash nearly killed him, while he believed there was a 95 per cent likelihood "of becoming a paraplegic".
In February, he had a second operation on his spine before eventually returning to the bike a month later.
Now, his team confirmed he will make his comeback to racing in the Tour of Denmark – which begins on Tuesday – after this final step of his rehabilitation was approved by medical staff.
Bernal said: "After what happened to me in January this has been the moment I've been waiting for – to race with my team-mates again.
"I can't emphasise enough how hard the last eight months have been for me, both physically and mentally. That day, and the journey that I have been on since will be a part of me forever, it's something you never forget, as is the support that I have received from my family, my girlfriend, the team, INEOS as well as my fans.
"As humans we really rely on each other in our times of need, and this year has been a time of need for me – I can't thank everyone who has been there for me enough.
"That support has been invaluable in motivating me every day to work hard to be able to race again. To you all, a heartfelt thank you."
Deputy team principal, Rod Ellingworth, added: "When you think back to where Egan was only eight months ago, it's incredible the progress he has made.
"He's shown the world the true strength of his character, and demonstrated remarkable grit in returning to race-readiness. We're still on a journey with Egan, but lining up at the Tour of Denmark is a significant and hard-earned milestone.
"Egan's long-term recovery has and continues to guide our medical and physical programme of support – our targets have always been performance-led not race-led, and the entire INEOS Grenadiers family is proud and delighted for Egan that his determination and application will now see him return to the race environment he has craved for so long."
Young cyclists excel at Junior Caribbean Cycling Champs in Dom Rep
Jamaica's young cyclists Cajur Chue, Khalil Francis and Melaika Russell all registered credible performances during the recently-concluded two-day Junior Caribbean Cycling Championships in the Dominican Republic.
The three were among 56 athletes across 13 countries that participated in the championships, where Jamaica finished second on the medal table with three medals behind host nation which had nine medals. Puerto Rico completed the top three with two medals.
Chue, National Juvenile Time Trial champion, competed in the Juvenile Men 10km Individual Time Trial on the first day of action and claimed silver in 13 minutes and 29 seconds. He just missed out on top spot by 10 seconds, as he finished behind Puerto Rico’s Amauri Santiago (13min 19 sec), while Dominican Republic’s Emir David Nina Garcia (13mins 25sec) was third.
Jamaica's National women's Time Trial champion Russell was also in action on day one, as she competed in the Juvenile Women 10km individual Time Trial, where she also placed second in 16 minutes and 47 seconds. The event was won by Bermuda’s Charlotte Millington, with Barbadian Arielle Greaves taking third in a time of 17 minutes and 40 seconds.
Russell returned on the second day and won gold in the 60km Road Race for Juvenile Women, becoming the first Caribbean Road champion from Jamaica since Marloe
Rodman in 2015.
In the juvenile male 70km road race, Chue took an early solo breakaway and opened a 150 metres gap with 15km to go, but was unable to maintain that tempo and got
caught. Both Chue and Francis missed out on the podium, as they placed sixth and 10th respectively.
On this day in 2018: Simon Yates seals British Grand Tours treble at La Vuelta
Simon Yates sealed victory in La Vuelta on this day in 2018 to complete a British clean sweep of the year’s Grand Tours.
The 26-year-old Bury racer headed into the largely processional final stage into Madrid with a one minute and 46 seconds lead and avoided any late mishaps to land his first Grand Tour title.
Yates’ success followed that of Chris Froome at the Giro d’Italia and Geraint Thomas at the Tour de France to round off an unprecedented year for British cycling.
The three titles had never before been held by three riders from the same country.
Yates said: “It’s astonishing really. Growing up I was so accustomed to seeing the French, Italian and Spanish riders lead the way, so for myself, Chris and Geraint to all win a Grand Tour in the same year just shows how far the sport has come in this country.”
Froome, whose Tour-Vuelta double in 2017 meant British riders had at that point won five Grand Tours in a row, paid tribute to Yates’ achievement, saying: “Simon has looked so strong over the last three weeks and it’s great to see him take home the maillot rojo. It’s been a perfect year for British riders.”
On this day 2016: Kadeena Cox makes history with cycling gold at Rio Paralympics
Kadeena Cox won C4/C5 500 metres time-trial gold in Rio on this day in 2016 to become the first Briton in 28 years to secure medals in two sports at the same Paralympics.
The then-25-year-old’s velodrome triumph saw her emulate Isabel Barr’s Seoul 1988 success as she added to the T38 100m bronze she had claimed on the athletics track.
Cox was tearful on the podium, recalling her two-year journey from stroke symptoms in May 2014 which were later diagnosed as MS, a progressive disease which made her determined to compete in two sports in Rio.
“I’m just so happy that I’ve finally done it and I’ve got so far – this time two years ago I was at home, about to go into hospital to get my MS diagnosis,” she said.
“To have come this far in such a short period of time is just a relief. I’m glad that I’ve done it.
“A lot of people thought I wouldn’t be able to and there were moments when I doubted myself.
“But I knew when the classification got changed, it was going to be the point where I worked my hardest.
“I absolutely dug in and gave it everything.
“I knew on my day I’d be good enough to beat anyone and I’ve done it.”
World champion Cox won the C4/C5 500 metres time-trial gold in a world record of 35.716 seconds.
The event was factored in her favour, so her time was rounded down to 34.598secs, but she was quicker than everyone else regardless.
Cox went on to seal athletics gold with victory in the T38 400m final to make it a treble of medals in Rio and won two further cycling golds at the Tokyo Paralympics in 2021.
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