“I didn't want to finish with a plaster on my wrist”: Training crash cruelly cuts short Ion Izagirre’s farewell tour

Ion Izagirre was supposed to spend October riding toward the finish of a 17-year professional career, with three Italian races still standing between the Cofidis veteran and his final road appearance. Instead, a training crash has brought that farewell to an abrupt halt, leaving the 37-year-old facing the possibility that his final competitive road race has already come and gone.

Izagirre fractured his left wrist in a fall on a wet descent while preparing for the final races of his season. The injury rules him out of Coppa Agostini, Tre Valli Varesine and Il Lombardia, the latter a race where he has twice finished inside the top 10 and where he had hoped to make one last attempt at a strong result.

The timing is cruel because Izagirre had entered the closing weeks of the season with renewed confidence. After struggling to find his best level earlier in the Italian campaign, cooler and wetter conditions appeared to suit him, and his victory at the Memorial Marco Pantani gave him another reason to believe he could finish his career on his own terms.

He had also put together an impressive final season at the highest level, winning the GP Miguel Indurain and finishing fourth overall at the Itzulia Basque Country, seventh at Flèche Wallonne and sixth at Eschborn-Frankfurt. After two Tour de France stage victories during his career, he had also continued to attack and seek opportunities in breakaways during his final appearance at the race.

“I was out training, doing one of my last rides for the last races of the year,” Izagirre told Cyclingnews. “On a downhill that was a bit wet, my back wheel went from underneath me. I was trying to stop myself from going down as I fell and that's when I broke my wrist. It doesn't hurt, and I had a splint put on it at the hospital. But that was that.”

The crash came just as he believed his form was moving in the right direction. “The Italian races I'd done before, I was going well, but I wasn't at the level I wanted, maybe because of the heat or whatever. I couldn't show what I'd got,” he said. “But then the weather changed; it turned rainier and cooler, and my body really responded, and in Pantani I was always up there, getting in the moves and so on.”

“Then in the last moment, when four of us went ahead, I could play it out well in the sprint. So by then I knew I was on a roll, and it made me feel confident for what was to come.”

That momentum had given Izagirre hopes of ending his career with one final run through the Italian classics, particularly at Il Lombardia. Instead, the crash has forced him to confront a conclusion he never planned for.

“I was in great condition and hoping to do something good to round it all off with a good taste, at least give it 100% and finish my career, too, riding a bike, not like this,” he said. “But that's how it plays out sometimes. You never want it, never expect it, but sometimes that's just what happens.”

Izagirre's disappointment has been compounded by how quickly his plans disappeared. He had been due to race the Italian block before celebrating the end of his career with Cofidis, but he now has to watch those races from the sidelines.

“When it all happened, I dunno, I just couldn't believe it. When I couldn't hold the handlebar with my left hand, I realised it was goodbye to my season and my career. The world caves in on you. I didn't want to finish my career with a plaster on my wrist. I wanted to finish it enjoying my racing in the Italian races. But it's not going to happen that time.”

For now, Izagirre says it is too early to take much comfort from what has been an otherwise successful final campaign. “But maybe it's a bit too soon to try and feel upbeat,” he said. “Instead right now you could say I'm in mourning. It's just a feeling of being hurt and demotivated, disappointed with what happened.”

“Maybe further down the line, looking at things more objectively, I'll value this last season, what I've done in it, a lot more.”

There is, however, still one potential way for Izagirre to put on a number and race one final time. On October 25, his hometown of Ormaiztegi in the Basque Country will host its annual cyclo-cross event. Izagirre has competed there in recent years and hopes that recovering from the wrist fracture will allow him to take part again.

“There are still 25 days and let's hope that's possible that I recover in time,” he said. “Maybe that way I'd finish it all off at home. I've been able to race it in the last few years, which is something that wasn't possible before then because the teams were more worried about the risks of crashes and injuries and so on. But when I've been able to do it, I've done it, and this year even more so, as it's my last chance. Let's see if I'll be able to do it again, for one last time.”

Even if he makes it to that final cyclo-cross race, Izagirre has no plans to prolong his competitive career through gravel or cyclo-cross. After nearly two decades of professional racing, he intends to step away completely.

His immediate priority is his family, with whatever comes next left deliberately open. “When I hang up my wheels, that's me done for good. I'll go on riding a bike out of pure pleasure, and as a fan of the sport.”

“Cycling has given me a lot, and I think it'll help me clear my head if I need it in the future, too, by simply riding the bike. But without any need of being out there doing series, training hard and so on. Just choosing the day and the place and the time and the people I want to be with. It'll be another world.”