Oscar Onley returns to racing after third collarbone break in eight months

Oscar Onley (dsm-firmenich-Post NL) will make his comeback from a collarbone injury at the Tour de Suisse on Sunday and is itching to compete again after a year strewn with injury.

Onley has suffered setback after setback since breaking his collarbone on just the second day of his grand tour debut at La Vuelta a España last year. He returned from that injury to take an impressive win atop Willunga Hill at the Tour Down Under in January before breaking his collarbone again a week later.

His string of bad luck continued at the Amstel Gold Race in April with a third collarbone fracture, but now with a good base of training behind him the Scot is ready to put that all behind him, starting in Switzerland. 

Onley found his most recent injury the hardest to handle, with the culmination of injury after injury challenging his mental fortitude. The 21-year-old, from the Scottish Borders town of Kelso, had to find ways to take the injury off his mind.

“The break in April was a lot more difficult for me mentally,” Onley said on his team’s website. “I had big goals for the upcoming races with the team which made it harder. Seeing all your teammates, friends and peers racing and getting good results at that time while you’re sat on the sofa and can’t really do anything; that was a pretty tough period.

“To be honest, I just switched off from cycling for a bit at that time. I tried to keep away from my phone and do some other things. I bought some Lego and was trying to keep my mind busy. I think if you sit on the sofa all day and just think of what you should be doing, or what others are doing, then it can become overwhelming almost. So, I was just trying to keep myself busy and switch off from cycling for a little bit.”

Making another comeback

Having reset, Onley recently spent a few weeks training at altitude in Tenerife to prepare for the second half of the season. Onley is ambitious for his return, but understandably also just hopes to stay rubber side down after his series of crashes.

“When nothing happens on some stages and I just finish in the bunch without any mishaps, that would be nice,” Onley said.

Joining Onley in the dsm-firmenich-Post NL team for the Tour de Suisse will be fellow Scot Sean Flynn who will be looking to set up the team’s sprinter, Tour of Türkiye stage winner Tobias Lund Andresen.

Onley will hope to be competitive in the GC on a route that looks perfect for the climber, with four mountain top finishes and a mountain time trial on the final stage as an added test.

“On paper I think the route really suits my characteristics,” he said. “I want to make the most of this opportunity and show the legs and training that we have been working on for the past few months. I want to come out of the race with the best results we can.”

Above any result in Switzerland, Onley is just hoping to get his career back on track after this most recent bump in the road. Through this period, he has learned valuable lessons for the future.

“You must learn to think positively, even when everything hasn’t been positive. That’s what I’ll take with me from all of this.”