An Extraordinary Feat

Thirty-five year old former student Nathan Earle (SVC 2003-2004) has been road cycling professionally since 2008.

During that period his career was marred by a string of significant setbacks - multiple knee injuries, a collision with a car in 2011 that broke his ankle and wrist, broke a leg break in 2019, and fractured his pelvis while recovering from the leg break (when some people on a bike path pushed a shopping trolley into him).

He was able persevere with his sport and had some significant results not least of which were victories in the Tour of Japan and in the Tour of Thailand last year. 

However, later in the year (September) he suffered another major setback.  Nathan was T-boned by a semi-trailer, while out on a training ride in Japan. That crash very nearly took his life, left him with a long list of injuries, and made him question whether he wanted to race a bike again.

The truck hit him side-on, on his left side. It punctured a lung, broke five ribs, smashed his helmet to pieces, had a his head split open, broke his shoulder and wrist, and broke his arm quite badly. A lot of his teeth were also damaged. He was in hospital for three weeks and not permitted to fly for home to his wife and three children another three weeks.

He had three and a half months off the bike and suffered with headaches.

He tried to ride again in November but every time he turned the pedals he just started getting a headache when the blood got flowing. He just gave up and didn’t ride until December on the trainer.

Over Christmas, through January and even into February, he started doing more kilometres, but it just didn’t feel good at all. When the Tour of Taiwan came up in March and his team, Team UKYO, convinced him not to participate - just to focus on getting better.

The next major event on the Asian Circuit was the Tour of Thailand  -  six days (1-6 April), 1 033 km  with 89 riders. It was a bit nerve-wracking for him just being back on the bike after having an injury and moving in the peloton and just going fast again, basically. But he got through it okay, finishing a creditable 27th.

Fast forward to 21 May – Nathan fronts the starter to defend his Tour of Japan title. Sixteen teams – 96 riders, 718 km over eight days. First placing – Nathan Earle; winning team – Team UKYO. 

An incredible performance.

A significant amount of information was taken from an article by cycling journalist Matt de Neef on the website 'Escape Collective'.

The full interview can be read here: https://escapecollective.com/qa-nathan-earle-on-winning-the-tour-of..

Well worth the read.