Michael Woods' fifth-place finish on the Queen Stage of the Volta ao Algarve last week, behind stage winner Richie Porte (Sky), World Champion Michal Kwiatkowski (Etixx-QuickStep), Jon Izzagire (Movistar) and Geraint Thomas (Sky), signalled his quick ascent through cycling's ranks.
Woods, 28, only started racing his bike at an elite level three years ago. But while his rise to a world-class level has been quick, his journey to get there has been long and filled with heartbreak. The Optum p/b Kelly Benefit Strategies rider started his athletic career as a middle-distance runner in his hometown of Ottawa, Canada, where he established himself as one of the best up-and-coming milers in the world.
Over the course of a single month back when he was 18 years old, he ran the mile in 3:57.48, the 3000m in 7:58.04, took gold in the 1500m at the Pan Am junior championships and had a world ranking in the top 50. As a freshman at the University of Michigan, Woods envisioned Olympic glory and a long and fruitful career on the track.
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But a recurring stress fracture in his left foot brought those dreams crashing down. Woods said over-training and a bit of poor guidance allowed the injury to snowball until it got to the point that he broke the bone every time he raced.
“It was really tough,” Woods recently told Cyclingnews from Portugal, where he will compete with Optum again this weekend before heading home.
“My last race really was in 2007, and I spent four years just kind of working and not really knowing what I was going to do with my life,” he said. “It was a pretty tough time, because when I was younger I was one of the guys. I was kind of picked as one of the great white hopes for the mile. But getting injured just kind of dashed those hopes and it was tough.”
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