This time last year, Bob Donaldson was only just able to ride outdoors again after a crash that could have ended his budding career.
It all happened in a flash. Descending a hill near his home on the outskirts of Manchester, the then 20-year-old was struck by a car driver, who swerved across the road in front of him towards their driveway. It took place “in plain sight,” Donaldson tells Cycling Weekly, and before he could reach for his brakes, he was lying on the floor.
“I managed to crawl to somewhere I could perch,” he says. “An hour and a half later, I was taken in an ambulance to the hospital, where I had scans and stuff.”
The scans revealed that he had suffered four transverse process fractures to the vertebrae at the bottom of his spine. “I was lucky not to be more damaged,” he says. His bike had split in half, and his front wheel had crumpled under the impact with the car.
It’s a memory that Donaldson will have for the rest of his life. And yet, as he stood on the podium at Paris-Roubaix on Sunday, second in the under-23 race just a year on from the crash, that day felt so distant.
(Image credit: Instagram: @media.roses)
Back when Donaldson was bed-bound, racing across Roubaix’s jagged cobblestones was unimaginable. The young Brit spent 10 days off the bike, waiting for his broken back to heal, and went almost two months until he could brave the roads again. The challenge, it appeared, wouldn’t be regaining fitness, but rather overcoming the fear of crashing.
“At any point, there’s the peril of what a two-tonne car can do,” he says. “It also spreads into racing, and only recently have I lost the little conscience in my head to be a bit safer. Throughout the season last year, I had in my head that I did not want to crash and have a major incident again. At the end of the day, it could have ended my career.”
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Growing up, it was always the lure of the Classics that drew Donaldson to cycling. He idolised serial Monument winners Tom Boonen and Fabian Cancellara, and dreamed of riding Paris-Roubaix, more so than the Tour de France.
When he made his debut in the ‘Espoirs’ event on Sunday, the 22-year-old was familiar with the folklore. The Hell of the North, and its treacherous cobbles, is regarded as one of the most dangerous races on the calendar. But, as Donaldson knew, “you can’t go into Roubaix with any fear”.
“You’ve got to go in with full confidence, and just no fucks, really. You can’t be worrying about what could happen. You’ve just got to race at the front, and race for yourself,” he says. And that’s what he did.
A year after breaking his back, Donaldson shook away the fear and rode Roubaix on the front foot. His team, under-23 British Continental outfit Trinity Racing, positioned him well into the early cobbled sectors, and inside 20km to go, he attacked to start the move that would last to the line.
“I knew my girlfriend and dad would be at the Carrefour de L’Arbre, so I was motivated to just smash it as much as I could across there,” Donaldson says. He then worked with Lidl-Trek’s Tim Torn Teutenberg and Lotto Dstny’s Robin Orins, the trio entering the velodrome together, where Teutenberg sprinted to victory.
(Image credit: Instagram: @media.roses)
A few days later, Donaldson posted on Instagram, writing that it was “tough to be first loser”.
“There were a few things that maybe I could have done better,” he now reflects. “I think, as a cyclist, if you’re ever content with not winning then something’s probably going wrong. I can take the positives out of coming second, it was such a strong field, and I have a lot of respect for everyone else in the race. To be so close, it just hurts in a way.”
Though he did not win, Donaldson did succeed in making a statement. This year is his last in the under-23 ranks, and without a professional contract for next season, the Brit felt he needed a result to put his name in the shop window.
“People say that the start of the season is the most important time of the year, because that’s when deals are done to prepare for next year,” he says. “I missed that big chunk last year, and I had no clue how my form would come out of that and how it would impact my season as a whole.
“It’s the results that do the talking at the end of the day, to help get that contract for next year, which is the ultimate goal. With that [Roubaix second place] in the bank, now I feel like I can race with a bit more freedom and confidence that my legs will do the talking.”
The effects of the crash still linger in the back of Donaldson’s mind. He’s quick on his brakes when he sees a car pull up, he says, and he’s still got his broken bike frame, which he keeps in his bedroom. Crucially, though, he doesn’t let the fear affect his racing.
“I want to be a Classics rider and have a successful career doing it,” he says. “Not necessarily winning loads of races, but having an enjoyable, successful career, which I can look back on and be happy with.” The 22-year-old then pauses for a moment. “Yeah, being happy, I’d say, is the number one thing.”