Fresh starts are always a good thing, but after eight years plying his trade as a professional bike racer for Jonathan Vaughters’ Slipstream-run teams, it took a serious illness to slow Alex Howes down and force a protracted time off the bike, his first extended break since he took up racing as a junior in Colorado.
Now 31 and starting his eighth season in the WorldTour peloton, a hyperthyroid condition that was diagnosed last autumn meant Howes didn’t touch his bike for most of August, September and October. It was just the break he needed to recover his health and refresh his morale going into another professional season.
"It was the longest time off the bike, and I think that really helped, honestly," Howes told Cyclingnews this week in Colombia, where he was racing the Tour Colombia 2.1 in support of Dani Martinez and Rigoberto Uran.
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"This is my eighth year in the WorldTour, and before that I wasn’t WorldTour, but it was pretty full on. I needed some time to step away from it and really not think about racing at all," he said. "It was pretty productive for me. Coming back I feel pretty hungry. Eight years in and this is my neo-pro season again. I’m pretty motivated."
Howes was diagnosed with the hereditary condition last fall after he abandoned the Tour of Utah before the start of the final stage. The rider known for rarely quitting a race had to drop out because he simply lacked energy to ride. The condition had robbed him of the power he had been building since adolescence.
"On the bike, in particular, I really couldn’t go,” he said. "I just couldn’t push. I was kind of anxious off the bike. I had a lot going on day to day. But I had anxiety, which I never really had before. On the bike, it was really noticeable. I could eat as much as I wanted, I could train as much as I wanted, but I just couldn’t go.
Making a return in Colombia
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/second-chance-for-howes-after-extended-period-off-the-bike
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