Jay Vine emotional after positive outlook on Basque Country injuries: "Just can't believe that I will still be able to walk and play with my kids one day"

Jay Vine is no stranger to obstacles in his cycling career but he has perhaps facing his biggest so far. The UAE Team Emirates rider fractured several vertebrae in a crash at Itzulia Basque Country and there were major concerns that his career could be over. However good news came out that the Australian is expected to make a full recovery within a few months.

"Incredible support from everyone! Thanks so much for all the messages!" Vine wrote in an Instagram post. "Medical update on my end: I'm tracking as well as can be expected, I have been able to walk around my room with the aid of a walker, and taking the first step was pretty emotional after what I've been through."

It has been almost two weeks since Vine crashed into a concrete ditch alongside several other riders. He was perhaps the worst affected rider of them all however, having been one of the riders who needed to be stabilized on scene, and now having been told he requires a neck brace for six weeks. His Giro d'Italia plans are naturally not possible anymore, a return to racing is not in mind at the time but instead recovery from an injury that he feared could affect much more than his cycling career.

"Waiting to get home to Andorra, but the folks in the hospital have been A + with the care I have received. Just can't believe that I will still be able to walk and play with my kids one day, it was pretty scary for a couple of days when we weren't sure if surgery or neurological problems might present themselves," he admits. "Long road ahead for my recovery, but I am looking forward to getting the process rolling."