At the Tour de France Femmes, Slovenian racer Urška Žigart is tackling her third Grand Tour of the season. In normal circumstances, she might be dreaming of a top 10 here, having finished sixth at La Vuelta Femenina and eighth at the Giro d'Italia Women, but she's fortunate to be taking the start at all.
The 29-year-old started the Tour in Lausanne, Switzerland on Saturday, among hordes of cheering fans. Her most recent memory of racing in the country is less pleasant, however, after crashing and fracturing her jaw six weeks ago at the Tour de Suisse.
She managed to avoid surgery, recovered quicker than expected, and is fit enough to race the Tour for a second time.
"I was very lucky. I didn't need surgery. All parts of the fracture aligned, and so I just had to be careful with my movements," Žigart said at the pre-Tour media day on Thursday.
"From the first week, I could see that I was recovering faster than expected. I was back on the bike very quickly. I had to adjust my diet a bit at first, but I quickly understood what I could and couldn't do."
Ahead of the stage 1 start in Lausanne, Žigart explained that she had been waving to the bus of her boyfriend Tadej Pogačar's team, which was parked up for the men's race later in the day.
Racing into the final kilometre of the stage, she went to close a gap in front of her, but hit a speed bump in the road and went down hard.
"The last person I saw was there soigneur waving back to me. Then I have an image in my head of my bike flying to one side and me flying to the other," she said.
"The next things are very blurry because, of course, they gave me a lot of medication to keep me from moving because I was trying to show them 'Oh, I have pain', and I was sticking my fingers in my mouth trying to show it."
Concussion tests followed, and she was back training on the bike – indoors, of course – within the week. Outdoor riding came soon after, on the Monday after National Championships weekend, just 10 days after the crash.
"I watched on TV our Belgian winner Shari Bossuyt, then the next day I went on an easy ride outside just to check," Žigart said.
"It was all very touch and go – you're not sure how a speed bump or a little hole in the road is going to move my jaw – but the body is an amazing thing, and it was great."
It has been a speedy recovery from a serious accident, though Žigart denied that it has been a miraculous road back to full fitness.
"I wouldn't say it was a miracle. There are other things that are more miraculous than an athlete bouncing back from an injury," she said on Thursday.
"We have the best support, the best doctors, the best everything, so I think it's quite normal that we're recovering faster than normal people. I'm very grateful to be here, to be walking, to be racing my bike, that I get to enjoy this all again."
She admitted that she may not be able to replicate her impressive Vuelta and Giro GC results in France – her team's priorities lie with GC leader Kim Le Court-Pienaar, who won a stage and wore yellow last summer – but there may be chances for her on the road to Nice.
"I can't say that I'm in the shape of my life, but after that terrible fall, I know that I have to enjoy my life. That is what I will try to do," she said.
"The team's objective is the yellow jersey with Kim, and we will help her achieve it. Of course, there will also be stages on the program where I will be free, but the objective is clear."
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