Stannard on the comeback trail

Ian Stannard is already back in training and looking forward to putting a miserable 2014 behind him.

Ian aiming to hit the ground running in 2015

The autumn leaves might not have finished falling yet, but Ian Stannard is already back in training and looking forward to putting a miserable 2014 behind him. Stannard hit the ground running at the start of the season with a top-four finish at the Tour of Qatar being followed by the biggest victory of his career at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. His Classics campaign was derailed however when a crash at Ghent-Wevelgem left the 27 year old with a fractured vertebrae and a four-month spell on the sidelines. That layoff forced Stannard to miss his two biggest races of the season – the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix – and meant he couldn’t start a second Tour de France on his beloved British roads. Stannard made a brief comeback at the Commonwealth Games but had to wait until the RideLondon Classic to compete in Team Sky colours again. The British rider looked to have regained top form by the time the Tour of Britain kicked off in September, but a crash on the opening stage in Liverpool fractured his scaphoid and ended his season after just 34 days of action. Far from dwelling on that bad luck, Stannard focused on a speedy recovery and was able to compete again during the opening round of the Revolution track series in London last month. Now the Essex-born rider’s condition is improving with every passing week and he is aiming to make up for lost time when the 2015 campaign kicks off in earnest. We caught up with him after a lengthy training run to discuss a difficult 2014, and how his enforced absence has reignited his passion for cycling. Team Sky: What did you get up to during your enforced downtime after the Tour of Britain? Ian Stannard: Nothing much because the broken wrist I suffered in Liverpool meant I couldn't go out training. I had a cast on for six weeks so I took the opportunity to go on holiday and forget about riding for a few weeks. I got the cast taken off last month and rode the first round of the Revolution Series. I’m just getting back into proper training now. TS: How would you sum up the season you’ve had this year? IS: It’s been terrible and definitely one to forget. My win at Het Nieuwsblad almost seems like a different year now. Things actually started quite well but they went downhill the moment I crashed at Ghent-Wevelgem. That said, I’m feeling fresh and am really motivated for the new season. TS: Where are you at in terms of your back and wrist injuries? IS: I’ve nearly recovered from both, which is a huge relief. My wrist still needs a little work on it but my back feels fine. I completed the Eneco Tour in August and was feeling good heading into the Tour of Britain, but I had another long layoff after that. The Revolution Series was a gentle way – if you can call it that – of getting back into the swing of things but I won’t know how my body is until I do some hard training efforts in the cold. TS: Did you watch any cycling whilst you were injured? IS: A little bit, but that was a hard and frustrating thing for me to do. Watching Flanders and Roubaix was the worst as I’d trained so hard from them but had the opportunity to ride them taken away from me right before them. It was similar with the Tour de France – I only watched a few stages of that as well for the same reasons. The longer I had off though, the more I became a fan of the sport again. When I’m racing I never read cycling magazines, reports or articles, but recently I’ve been doing a lot more of that. When you’re competing, it’s so intense and so full on that you relax by taking your mind completely off cycling, so it’s been nice to have reignited that passion a bit. TS: What did you miss most about the sport when you were injured? IS: I missed being part of the team. A lot of the staff and riders are good friends, so it was hard not spending time with them. I kept in touch with G and Swifty and a few of the other guys over the phone, and over coffee and things, but it wasn’t the same. I missed the structure as well – there was so little to do whilst I was recovering, I ended up really bored. TS: Did you miss the health benefits when you were injured as well? IS: Definitely. With my back injury, I was forced to rest up and it was the first time I’d ever done nothing for as long as I could remember. I started putting weight on and losing my muscle mass, and I just didn’t feel good at all. TS: What are your plans for over the winter? Are you aiming to hit the ground running in 2015? IS: I just want to focus on my training over the next few months and then set goals off the back of that. I can’t wait to get back on my bike and get my condition back. I’ve probably missed around 20,000km of riding this year so that’s definitely set me back. We haven’t discussed my race schedule yet as we’re going to see how things go before getting my calendar nailed down. Keep up to date with Ian Stannard's movements over the winter via his personal website at www.ianstannard.com