Chloé Dygert's racing return postponed; Examination reveals "shoulder rehab wasn’t successful" and will require surgery

Chloé Dygert has not had a great joy from cycling so far in 2026. The American time trial star has only three results and three 'DNFs' to her name this season - the last one dating back full two months.

A return finally begun to emerge on the horizon two weeks ago when the Canyon//SRAM rider shared an optimistic Instagram post, but all that enthusiasm is now gone with a fresh update where Dygert shares more than just one bad piece of news.

"Well, that comeback lasted about two rides", Dygert shared via an Instagram post on Friday. Since her return to training, she had been diagnosed with RED-S (Relative energy deficiency in sport), and the health complications started to snowball from there on:

"I picked up a virus, and my blood markers continue to trend in the wrong direction," she wrote.

Although Dygert has had her share of health troubles before - most notably her brutal knee injury caused by a crash at the world time trial championships in Imola 2020 - the 2026 season has once again showed its ugly side to the 29-year-old American.

Her health seems to have fallen apart after a hard face-first crash on Paris-Roubaix cobbles. Since then, Dygert underwent intense rehabilitation, however the expected good feeling never arrived. The reasons behind this struggle were ultimately revealed by a "better late than never" examination this week.

"An MRI also confirmed that the shoulder damage from my Roubaix crash will require surgery after rehab wasn’t successful, and further imaging revealed a collapsed nasal valve that will need surgery too."

This is a further setback which will most likely cause Dygert to sit out the US National Championships in the second half of June, as well as a few other appointments planned for 2026 summer. While there's no timeline for her recovery at the moment, Dygert would surely love to be at the start of American Pro races; Philadelphia (August 31) and Maryland (September 5-7) Cycling Classics.

"Not exactly the update I was hoping to share," she concluded on her Instagram post, "but for now it’s back to focusing on recovery, getting healthy, goals haven’t changed. Just the path getting there has. I’ll be back."