One Year On: Lessons from a Broken Back
One year after a high-speed crash left me with a burst vertebra and an uncertain future, I’m reflecting not on the pain, but on the process — the quiet, determined journey of healing, adapting, and rediscovering who I am beyond the results. This isn’t just a story about injury and recovery; it’s about transformation, patience, and what it means to keep showing up — day by day, stage by stage.
Photo credit: Olivia Hugh
I don’t usually keep count. I’m not one to mark the anniversary of a crash or dwell on moments of misfortune. It’s never been my way to adopt a victim mentality — I’ve always believed in moving forward, learning from the past, and using adversity as fuel. But today, one year on from a crash that could have changed everything, I feel it's worth pausing to reflect. Not to relive the pain, but to acknowledge the process — and the growth that came from it.
It was Stage 1 of the Volta Catalunya. A high-speed sprint finish. Just a few hundred meters from the line, a rider slid out in front of me. I had nowhere to go. The crash happened in an instant. There was no time to think, no space to react. I took the initial impact on my head, and then my back folded violently beneath me. That force is what caused the burst fracture.
The moment I came to — lying on the road — I knew something was terribly wrong.
The diagnosis: a burst fracture of my T10 vertebra. An unstable injury, with a bone fragment dangerously close to my spinal cord. The kind of injury that usually requires surgery. But thanks to an incredible medical team, we opted for a conservative approach — no operation, just time, patience, and a very strict back brace. It was the right call, but it came with uncertainty, fear, and many long nights lying still, hoping the bone wouldn’t shift, praying the nerves would stay untouched.
For the first two weeks, I didn’t take the brace off. Not even to sleep. I was terrified of making one wrong move. I broke the process into phases. First, survive those two weeks. Then, gradually start moving again. I vomited constantly the first few days — a side effect of the trauma to my spine and nervous system. One of those days, I lay in bed and thought, this is it. But I made it through.
And then, in true me fashion, I was back on the Tacx trainer on Zwift. Back brace on, mind focused, eyes on the Olympic Games and the Tour de France Femmes. It was a fine line between risk and resilience — between pushing forward and holding back. But I knew that if I could control my environment, I could take back some power. So I controlled what I could: my mindset, my movement, my approach.
I’m no stranger to injury. Perhaps the most formative one came long before I turned pro — in my final year of school, during a horse riding accident. I wasn’t wearing a helmet. I hit my head on a concrete block and was placed in an induced coma for ten days. Doctors said I’d never finish school. That I’d never be the same again. That I’d be brain damaged. But I recovered in three months, finished school with seven distinctions, and went on to study chemical engineering. That experience shaped me — not just physically, but mentally. It taught me that adversity is not the end of the story; it’s often the beginning of a new one.
Throughout my career, I’ve faced setbacks — broken collarbones, a fractured ilium in a violent time trial crash in 2016 — each time, learning that recovery isn’t linear, and that patience is often the most powerful kind of strength.
This broken back, though — it’s been different. Longer. Deeper. It’s forced me not only to recover physically, but to reconfigure how I relate to my body, my goals, and the athlete I strive to be.
The bone has now fully remodeled. It’s not the shape it once was — no longer a square but a wedge. My body has adapted to accommodate it, and that’s been its own journey: managing spasms, strengthening the surrounding muscles, and re-learning what “normal” feels like.
But let me be clear: I haven’t accepted that I won’t be the rider I was before. In fact, I haven’t yet had the chance to fully focus on the marginal gains again — on performance in its purest sense. I believe I could come back stronger. Smarter. More complete.
What I have done is learned how to adapt. How to contribute in new ways. How to reinvent myself in the face of challenge. Because that’s what life — and a long career — is all about. Maybe I’m not always the rider chasing results at the front, but I’ve grown into a road captain, a mentor, a leader. I’ve learned to bring value in other ways, and that too is something I’m proud of.
If there’s one overarching lesson this year has taught me, it’s that there is no such thing as instant success. We live in a world obsessed with quick results — with winning now, with bouncing back fast. But real transformation doesn’t happen that way. True growth — in sport, in life, in ourselves — takes time. It’s a process.
And in many ways, it mirrors a Grand Tour. You don’t win it in a day. You win it by showing up — stage after stage — navigating the highs and lows, weathering the crashes, adjusting when plans fall apart, and always keeping your eyes on the bigger picture.
So no, I don’t celebrate crash anniversaries. But today, I acknowledge the journey. And I recommit — to the process, to the pursuit of excellence, to becoming the best version of myself. Maybe it won’t look exactly like it did before. Maybe it will look even better.
The fire still burns. I’m still here. And I’m still moving forward.
A Zwift Victory
The countdown timer for the race to start ticked over on the screen. I sat mounted on my bike, warmed up and ready to go, completely focused. I was genuinely in race mode and, after almost a month in lockdown, that was a welcome feeling. But the unfamiliarity of e-racing was making my heart beat a little faster.
I had been invited to race the Zwift Classic Trofeo Bologna but initially I was hesitant. I’ve made a big effort to embrace Zwift since lockdown but I had been watching some of the other pro races and the power stats were intimidating. I had never done an e-race before so I also wasn’t sure how to strategize or use the power-ups. Even though I had actually raced the course in real life, this really was racing in a different world, but the newly addicted Zwift athlete in me couldn’t say no.
In the comfort of my own home, I waited for the start absolutely tingling with nerves. I hadn’t been this nervous for a race in years! When the race officially began, I over-powered the start and shot right out in front. In the peloton I was like a yo-yo. As a first-time e-racer, I didn’t have a sense of the delay between pedal power and on-screen position. I would be leading the race and then almost out the back, off the front and then instantly back to 30th. Eventually, I got the balance right and as we approached the first ascent up the Madonna di San Luca, I moved to the front and set the pace. I crested with only one other rider but we were caught at the bottom of the descent by a chase group of eight riders. By then, however, I had the hang of things.
I sat in the wheels, taking my turn on the front but also saving my legs as much as I could. In the one-day Giro dell'Emilia, we race up the Madonna di San Luca so, even though I was an avatar in a computer-generated representation, I knew exactly what to do. When the gradient screamed up on a sharp hairpin around 1 kilometer to go, I attacked. In the 2016 Giro dell'Emilia, I had come up short and finished second to Elisa Longo Borghini but that wasn’t happening today. As my family stood right next to me in the grips of excitement, cheering me on, I put down the watts and claimed the victory.
My family swarmed around to congratulate me, as did the virtual community. I knew the London Dynamo Club I often rode with on Zwift were watching from England and their messages began to pour in. I had tons of messages from riders I knew in real life and riders I had only ever “met" in Watopia. A lot of people were reaching out and, maybe it’s because of lockdown and the current situation, but the response seemed bigger than some of my real-life race wins.
The race was only 41 minutes so, even though it was around 21:00, I rode on for a long time after. The house settled back to quiet but I could feel there was lift in the atmosphere, a buzz from the race. I never imagined that Zwift would be such a big part of my life and I definitely never imagined I would be the winner of an e-race! I also never imagined that physical distancing would bring the cycling community so close together or that our sport would continue on in such a new way. Change brings uncertainty, as my racing nerves reminded me, but it also brings the hope and excitement of new opportunities and that makes my heart beat a little faster too.
First Look At Our All New Bike Area
Just over 12 months ago we took the high-pressure hose to the floor in the downstairs vaults. As the concrete started to emerge so did our ideas for what those rooms could become. We wanted a visually stunning but also practical bike area where we could store and work on bikes but which also doubled as a comfortable place for guests to shower, change, and sit on the sofa with a coffee after a ride.
The end result is better than we could have imagined.
Training in Lockdown
Spain is in full lockdown to help slow the spread of the coronavirus which has meant I’m doing all of my training on Zwift. Zwift has been a real lifesaver for me (especially because of the meet-up feature) but, even if you don’t have access to Zwift or a smart trainer, if you’re riding indoors, these are a few things I’ve learned in the past two weeks.
1. Adjust your power. Drop your watts, scale down your FTP, and recalibrate your brain to those numbers. Riding inside is harder and if you try to match your outside numbers you will pay for it!
2. Focus on the feeling. Since your power won’t be what you’re used to and you may have to adjust normal training sessions, take your heart rate into consideration and always factor in your RPE (rate of perceived exertion). Listen to your body. In races you rely on your instincts anyway so it’s great practice for getting in touch with your body.
3. Indoor trainers function best with cadence around 80-90 RPM. Under or over and your training might be compromised. I’ve been trying to execute some high torque, low cadence strength intervals but with the smart trainer, sticking to cadence targets isn’t effective; instead, I focus on the feeling.
4. Reduce the volume by 20-30%. Riding inside is a constant effort. Although on Zwift you get a sense of drafting and going downhill, you still have to pedal. I’ve been adjusting my 5 hour rides to 3 hours and my 3 hour rides to 2 hours.
5. Don’t forget to fuel. Although your sessions might be shorter, don’t be tempted to skip nutrition. I set up a table next to the trainer and stock it with dates, homemade banana bread and lots of liquids to ensure I’m fuelled and hydrated.
6. Lastly, let go of perfection. A long period of indoor training is a big mental challenge. You might be used to structure and nailing each session but accept that indoor training is different and allow your training and expectations to adjust.
How to Tackle Rocacorba
“If there is one thing we know, it’s Rocacorba”
Rocacorba is more than our name. The Rocacorba mountain is one of Girona’s best-known and toughest cycling climbs. It was made famous by its popularity among the local pros. Close enough to Girona (but only 1.5km from our doorstep) with challenging slopes, it became the perfect climb for the pro riders to test their form. Even leading up to the grand tours, riders including Tour winner Bradley Wiggins and Giro winner Ryder Hesjedal were known to train on the climb. With years of pro riders trying to break the magical 30 minute mark (~40 for the women), the Strava segment was and still is hotly contested and not just between the pro riders. It’s the perfect climb for any rider to test themselves and see how they stack up against some of the best in the world and a must-do climb for every cyclist in the Girona area.
Years before we ever started Rocacorba Cycling, we were all riding on the slopes of the locally famous climb week after week, year after year. Given our combined history with the climb and location of Can Campolier, it was only natural when we started the business that we would name it “Rocacorba Cycling”. So, if there is one thing we know, it’s Rocacorba.
We know every detail of our namesake climb: every corner, every gradient change, where to save and where to spend energy, and every horse and donkey along the way. Of course, Ashleigh is also the presiding QOM so we also have all her tips and secrets to help you get a personal best or tackle the climb for the first time.
The Start
The Rocacorba climb might be 1.5km from our doorstep but the first thing we suggest is a good warm up! A quick roll around the lake will wake the legs up by the time you arrive to the start of the climb which is officially just after the bridge. Make sure you have fluids as there is no place to get water on the climb.
The 9.7km climb has an average gradient of 7%. On paper, that’s pretty straightforward but in reality the climb isn’t that simple. The start is the easiest part with shallower gradients and fools way too many riders into going out too hard. Pacing is most the most critical at this point so hold back! As Ash warns, “if you want your best time, don’t get excited too soon or you will pay for it at the top”.
When you reach the more open fields (hello mini horses!), you’re just arriving to the first of two flat/downhill sections. Use the 500m to spin out your legs because the second half of the climb is much harder.
The Hardest Part
The next two kilometres are the toughest part of the climb with the average gradient at 10%. There is no shade and no respite, even on the outside lines of the corners, only hard and harder.
The key here is to be steady. Find a powerful rhythm and stay there. Keep an eye out to the left because you’ll be able to catch a glimpse of the summit for the first time, demarcated by the cellular towers at the top.
The road will feel like it’s levelling out and then you’ll be granted the welcome gift of the second 500m of downhill. Again, use it to spin out your legs and prepare for the final section up to the summit.
The Final Push
The final 1.5km is still steep with an average gradient of 8%. With 8.5km in the legs, it bites but with views on the right of the Pyrenees and the summit so-close, you can start burning the end of your matches. Don’t be fooled by the green and white “Rocacorba” sign on the right, the summit is still 500m to go!
Make it to the hairpin past the sign and there is only 300m left. There is a white line across the road to mark the official finish so put your head down and empty the tank. It’s literally downhill home so don’t save anything now!
The Glory
Once at the top, take the mandatory photo with the big green Rocacorba sign. Have a seat on the paragliding launch and enjoy the well-deserved beautiful views of Girona and the Costa Brava. After you carefully cycle back down, finish your pilgrimage with a celebratory coffee and cake at the official Rocacorba Food Truck right at Can Campolier—you’ve earned it. And maybe have a quick check on Strava too…
Really want to get a PB? Ride it with one of our guides for a one-on-one coached climbing experience.
If you are on a gravel bike, or on foot, head down the dirt road to the Rocacorba Sanctuary
On Fire at TT Champs
We’re up in the far north of South Africa. It’s beautiful but it’s seriously hot—38C hot—it’s humid, plus there’s even a risk of malaria. It’s definitely not Europe, it’s home and it’s national championships time.
I’ve been training up at altitude in Mpumlanga for the past few weeks and it’s actually been refreshing to get back to what we used to do. Back to the tried and tested winter training that has always put me in a great place for the European season. Great training, fantastic weather, a good healthy dose of the homeland and, of course, national individual time trial championships as the first race of the season.
The 20km time trial was an out and back course with the first half dragging uphill. I went out hard to take advantage of the uphill and had the rider who started 1 minute before me, Carla Oberholzer, within my sight fast. Carla was the perfect carrot to chase and I made the pass at the turnaround point.
Image: Cycle Nation
I maintained a good advantage, as per my race strategy, but with 4km to go all I was thinking was “where is this finish line?!”. I was boiling hot. At that point, I had no fluids on my bike and my core temperature felt like I had swallowed the sun. Carla came back and passed me. Chasing her and dreams of ice cold water at the finish line, I kept her in reach and crossed the finish line just behind her.
I had a good feeling I had the win but I also felt like a human desert. First priority was liquid and lots of it. Thank goodness for my support team and the 4 bottles of cold water I chugged immediately. The weather would be similar in Tokyo so, actually, it was a good experience to have now to better prepare for the Olympics—a realization that only came after bottle of water #2.
The results became official and I had done it! I am the 2020 South African Time Trial Champion and I am so proud to earn the title back, especially in an Olympic year, and take the stripes up to Europe for the rest of the season.
The 104km road race is in a few days and, hopefully, the only thing that will be on fire are my legs!
Image: Cycle Nation
You can follow the race here.
A Good Place To Start
Marianne Vos is back this 2019 road season and it all kicked-off at the CCC-Liv Team Camp at Rocacorba Cycling.
The dominant force of Marianne Vos as we all know her is back. When Ashleigh invited the CCC-Liv team to have their pre-season training camp at Rocacorba Cycling, we were all especially excited to have the legend that is Marianne Vos experience Rocacorba Cycling, Can Campolier, and the roads that we all call home. Since February, Marianne has collected 15 victories, including 4 Giro stage wins and the La Course title, and while we can’t take any claim on her palmares, she did tell us that getting off to a good start at the pre-season camp was an important part of her preparation. We’ll take that as a small victory.
Image: Oliver Grenaa
Welcome Change
Typically, Marianne heads down to Calpe for her pre-season training but after more than 6 years, she was ready for change. While it’s “easy and comfortable” to return to the same place again and again and “hard to change something that works,” Marianne says, “exploring is also a big part of cycling—a joy in cycling.” Add in good pre-season weather and quiet roads and we couldn’t agree more.
With Ashleigh as their guide, Marianne and the whole CCC-Liv team got to explore the best of the Girona area and, as Marianne discovered, from Rocacorba Cycling, we have it all. “There are great climbs for training, great endurance rides, but there are also flats so there are all the options to train. That’s the most special thing.” Marianne favoured the impressive 18km Mare de Deu d’El Mont climb but, she says, “if you stay at Rocacorba Cycling, you have to do the Rocacorba climb”.
Image: Oliver Grenaa
At Home
Back at Can Campolier, the team stayed all together, having the whole place to themselves. “Normally at training camps in a hotel, you feel stuck, and in between all the other teams that are training. So there is a racy feel. Here it was much more relaxed which was a positive. You can relax, enjoy the area, and it feels like home. It feels different from the rest of the season,” Marianne said.
“Every day we woke up and walked over to the big house for breakfast with the sunrise. The views were amazing,” Marianne says. “I saw some photos before but, in person it’s even better. This place is stunning.”
“Good food, nice people,” Marianne continues, “easy to travel to and relaxing…it was a good camp and a good place to prepare for the road season”. Based on her impressive results this year, we think it was a pretty good place to start too.
Watch Marianne at the World Championships road race on Saturday, 28 September.
Image: Oliver Grenaa
Jeroboam Comes to Rocacorba Cycling - 27th October 2019.
The Jeroboam is a gravel series across Europe with events in Italy, Switzerland, Czech Republic, and now--new for this year--Spain, hosted right here at Rocacorba Cycling on the 27th of October 2019. “Jeroboam” is a 300cc wine bottle, the equivalent of 4 normal wine bottles. But what exactly is “gravel”? We think the Jeroboam team said it best:
“Originally it was a road surface. Then it became a type of bike capable of much more than just riding on gravel. Now above all, ‘gravel’ is a way of cycling: discovering new places and people and the fun on the journey rather than just getting to the finish line fast.”
Gravel is quintessentially about exploring so forget the boundaries of the road, the limitations of mountain biking, and redefine your idea of what a cycling event is all about. The Jeroboam isn’t a race, it’s not a gran fondo, it’s not a cycling tour…we know you’re curious, keep reading.
As the name suggests, the title course of every location is a 300km epic gravel route with a mix of dirt, single track, and road. There are also 150km, 75km, and 35km distance options so there is something for every level. However, the 2019 edition will be a test event for the official Jeroboam Spain in 2020. While the 2020 event will have an epic 300km course through the mountains and the coastline of the Costa Brava, the longest route option for 2019 will be a 150km route towards the Costa Brava. There will be shorter 75km as well. Naturally, we will be testing the Jeroboam Village too so there will be good food, rewarding drinks, great places to stay, good friends new and old, and a great vibe.
If you’re a seasoned gravel rider, get in at the beginning of Jeroboam Spain and experience the unforgettable terrain and our friendly hospitality. Let us know what you’d like to see in 2020 and get a sneak peak if you’re already thinking of the 300! If you’re new to gravel riding, get excited. There is a whole new world of riding out there on gravel. Either way, test here, get riding, and go gravel.
As a 3T Experience Centre, Rocacorba Cycling is equipped with the best and latest 3T gravel bike, namely the 3T Exploro. The Exploro is designed to be fast on and off the road; it’s versatility knows no bounds. Book your 3T Exploro for the Jeroboam now or come test out gravel with one of our experienced guides.
Keep Fighting. Period.
Everything was falling apart.
I got off my bike and it was dead quiet. I had just finished the individual time trial at the Giro Rosa and, I knew it wasn’t my best day, but was it really that bad? Being met with silence from my team affirmed my worst fears. I had finished three minutes off the pace, out of the top ten, and it was a really hard pill to swallow. At the biggest stage race of the season, as my teammates sacrificed themselves for me, I just couldn’t deliver. I rode back to the team bus, taking that silence with me.
Image: Jojo Harper
I started to spiral. I’ve had tons of bad races but this felt like more. My period had arrived early, leaving me feeling completely flat and in pain. I had strange and severe stomach pain that was keeping me up at night. Even my skin was sensitive to touch. I couldn’t eat and I didn’t want to. I knew it wasn’t true but it felt like everyone else was having a perfect race while mine was a disaster. Nothing was going right this season, it was just obstacle after set back after bad luck, and now, as I slid down the GC from 3rd to 9th, I felt completely disheartened.
Of course, all of this was also happening in front of an audience. My teammates, the peloton, friends, family, and fans were all seeing me struggle and so the messages started. What was happening and why, I still wasn’t sure, but the support messages were clear: I had to find a way to keep fighting.
I made it through the next two stages, getting dropped, clawing back, and fighting for every single pedal stroke. Every time an attack went or the pace surged, I couldn’t draw on my physical abilities like I was used to. I had to really dig deep into my experience to keep it together. My mum called to remind me how I had overcome an eating disorder, a serious head injury and a hip fracture. My husband, who was thankfully there by my side, kept reminding me what I was normally capable of and what we had accomplished, although, really, just his presence was a source of strength. My team was incredibly supportive, fully understanding how much impact your period can have on performance, let alone stomach issues. My phone was also constantly beeping with encouragement from fans through messages on social media. I didn’t have the physical power but I was constantly reminded that I did have the strength.
Image: Sean Hardy
By Stage 9, the Queen Stage, the team doctor had helped get my stomach under control and I was over the worst of my period. I started to feel like myself again and Montasio, the big mountain top finish, was my chance to prove it. It was against the odds and the top riders in the world but, finally, my guts were saying let’s go for it.
The stage played out exactly as predicted. We hit Montasio and Annemiek van Vleuten attacked. All the favourites respond and—hallelujah—so did my legs. Anna van der Breggen, Lucinda Brand, Amanda Spratt and I chased hard. As we caught Annemiek, the pace was…you can’t even believe! I knew it was impossible to keep that power going without blowing up and, after Lucinda dropped off, so did I. Moments later, Amanda did too. While Annemiek and Anna powered on, I set my sights on chasing down Amanda.
I bridged to her strong and steady and as we hit the steep part together, I tried my best to get rid of her. I couldn’t shake her so when we hit the flat section, I slammed my gears into the big blade and punched the speed. I escaped from Amanda, crossed the line for 3rd on the stage, 4th in the GC, and I had never felt so relieved.
I received lots of messages after Stage 9. The messages that recognized my low along with my stage podium were the ones that stayed with me. The people who noticed me struggle, saw me fight, and how I turned it around from such a low place, had seen something that felt vulnerable to me. The exposure of my difficulties had demonstrated, even to myself, a strength that went beyond watts and bikes.
Image: Anton Vos
We all go into big races as prepared as possible but reality constantly shows us that races, seasons, and life never go to plan. The lesson, however, isn’t that life is unpredictable but that we can be resilient and rise above whatever challenges come our way. I’ve learned that lesson over and over again but, still, I keep learning it because as we rise, the difficulty of our challenges rise with us. It never gets easier but our capacity to handle what we once thought impossible is unfailing if we have faith in our fighting spirit.
Join Ashleigh at the Harvest Tour
The Harvest Tour
Our first olive harvest last year was, well, our first: complete novice farmers with no olive picking experience who realized pretty quickly that our olive trees make a ton of olives—almost literally. In the beginning we called on a few close friends to come help us out but, as word got around town, more and more people asked us if they could come pick olives too. Soon, people were riding over to spend an hour or so in the orchard, others driving up to spend the day in the trees.
Surrounded by wonderful old olive trees and friends, what seemed like a daunting task turned out to be fun that was actually short-lived. When all the olives were picked and pressed into wonderful olive oil, the fun began again as we gave each pair of helping hands a piece of the harvest. We still get messages and pictures of fond memories and wonderful meals made with Can Campolier olive oil.
With such a successful first harvest, this year we’re officially opening the orchard with the Harvest Tour. Spend the morning with us on bikes and then return to the estate in the afternoon for an orchard lunch and olive picking. Enjoy the roads, the olive trees, and take home delicious hand-picked, cold-pressed olive oil.
