Steve Cummings returns from broken collarbone with local time trial win
The Brit crashed out of the Tour of the Basque Country earlier this year
Steve Cummings returned to racing, after breaking his collarbone in a crash during the Tour of the Basque Country, with a win in a Manchester & District time trial.
The Dimension Data rider won by over two minutes, racing for Birkenhead North End CC, posting a time of 50-21 on the 25-mile circuit.
In second place was Joseph Dobson, coming off a win in the Birkenhead North End 22 last month, riding for Manchester Bicycle Club, who finished 2-35 down on Cummings.
In the women's event, Deborah Moss (Team Merlin) took a convincing win, finishing in 1-40, five minutes faster than the next quickest time.
Cummings has raced local time trials on his road to recovery before. After fracturing two vertebrae at the 2017 Tour de France he went on to win the Birkenhead North End CC five mile club time trial by 30 seconds a month later.
The 38-year-old had abandoned on stage three of the Tour of the Basque Country 2019, in a crash that also claimed Jonathan Castroviejo (Team Ineos), who fractured his vertebra, wist, collarbone and a rib.
This latest crash came on the back of a self-described "terrible" 2018 season for the Brit, with a change to his usual programme leading to breathing issues that needed to be resolved by a specialist.
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Cummings has previously won two stages of the Tour de France, in 2015 and 2016, as well as a stage of the Vuelta a Espana in 2012.
In 2017 he also won both the British national road race and time trial championships, denying Alex Dowsett a sixth victory after Cummings took the win on the Isle of Man by just eight seconds on the 44.4km course.
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Jonny was Cycling Weekly's Weekend Editor until 2022.
I like writing offbeat features and eating too much bread when working out on the road at bike races.
Before joining Cycling Weekly I worked at The Tab and I've also written for Vice, Time Out, and worked freelance for The Telegraph (I know, but I needed the money at the time so let me live).
I also worked for ITV Cycling between 2011-2018 on their Tour de France and Vuelta a España coverage. Sometimes I'd be helping the producers make the programme and other times I'd be getting the lunches. Just in case you were wondering - Phil Liggett and Paul Sherwen had the same ham sandwich every day, it was great.