'The lows of cycling are way, way worse than the highs of winning' – Stevie Williams simply hopes to ride again, pain-free

Stephen Williams’ victory at last year’s La Flèche Wallonne epitomised just how much adversity he can handle. Through freezing rain and a snow flurry, he had the reserves and punch to beat his remaining hardy rivals on the Mur de Huy. The biggest win of his career was part of a breakthrough 2024 year of six victories.

The Welshman has been back in the eye of a different storm this season. He is suffering with quadriceps tendinopathy in his right knee, which flared up after his return from racing Australia’s Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race in February. “Everything was normal. A couple of days later, I woke up and had this sharp pain on the top of my patella. Nine months later, I’m still in this battle,” the NSN Cycling rider tells Cycling Weekly.

The injury is inflammation of the tendon of the muscle that attaches to the top of the knee, connecting the vastus medialis and the vastus lateralis. It means Williams’ tendon fibres are not strong enough to cope with the load of activity.

After a two-month break from competition, Williams soldiered on, but having “hardly trained”, he failed to finish this year’s Flèche Wallonne. He has not raced since May 1 and has barely been able to cycle. “It’s one of those injuries that’s going to be seen in smaller steps rather than big changes over a few days,” he says.

The 29-year-old, who shines in punchy classics and one-week stage races, has struggled to string together consistent seasons so far in his career. As a new WorldTour pro with Bahrain-Merida in 2019 and 2020, his first seasons were severely truncated by a persistent tendon issue in his left knee. “I never thought I’d go through something similar again. It’s safe to say this one has been twice as hard,” Williams says.

The highs he enjoyed in 2024, including Tour Down Under and Tour of Britain triumphs, has made this setback even more difficult. “It was a great year in so many ways,” he says. “One thing I will say is the lows of cycling are way, way worse than the highs of winning. It doesn’t come close. Winning is the greatest thing, it’s beautiful. But when you’re injured, off the bike, it’s absolutely devastating.”

“Frustration is the key word. Any injury is hard to deal with for an athlete, but the hardest one is soft tissue, ligament, tendon issues - and I’ve had two. They’re so difficult to manage. Even in the medical world, millions and millions [of pounds] is thrown into the study and knowledge of tendons, and they’re still really unsure how they work and respond.”

Watching his friends and teammates go training or racing without him, Williams’ days consist of gym physiotherapy work. Having lost most of the muscle mass in his right quad after surgery in early September, he has been doing a lot of isometric, eccentric work, building up strength in his lower back, glutes and quads.

Following surgery, he can ride for 30 minutes gently on a turbo trainer. “I miss riding on the road, with the boys and being in a normal training cycle,” he says.

Williams paid tribute to the “unbelievable” support and patience shown to him by [what was] Israel-Premier Tech, working with him in his Andorra home, which is set to become a WorldTour team next year.

However, it will be with a different name as it was announced last month that the team is rebranding, and will now be NSN Cycling. “Like everyone knows, I think it’s going to be a very different team. I think we’re all excited for a new era,” Williams says.

His career goals remain the Ardennes Classics and a Tour de France stage win. Whether he will be on the start lines of those races in 2026 is a big unknown. In the short-term, Williams hopes to be back on the road by Christmas and to conquer his injury. “Right now, I don’t care if I’m flying on the bike, I just want to be pain free and healthy,” he says.

“I have a lot of motivation to come back, I’m fighting and working hard. Fingers crossed everything will fall into line soon. When my first knee injury happened six years ago, I thought my career was done – and it wasn’t. The body can do some extraordinary things.”

This article originally appeared in Cycling Weekly magazine on 27 November 2025. Subscribe now and never miss an issue.