When Anna Henderson broke her collarbone for the second time this season on April 28, it was the thought of the Paris 2024 Olympics that kept her motivated, with the Brit paying back everyone who helped her return to form with a stunning silver medal performance in Saturday's time trial.
It was at the Vuelta España Femenina where Henderson crashed in the finale 3km of stage 1 and broke her collarbone again, after suffering the same injury on February 15 on her first race day of the year in Valenciana.
But after missing much of the spring Classics where she’s performed well in the past, Henderson has turned the misery around into the biggest result of her career.
“I was pretty much on my bike like three days after surgery, back indoors,” Henderson said at the finish in Paris.
“The second one mentally hurt a lot, and it really took a lot to get back and get the motivation again. But I always had Paris on my mind and that really carried me through.”
While the constant rain and slippery wet roads did for the likes of Chloé Dygert (USA) and Lotte Kopecky (Belgium), who crashed in the part of the course around the Bois de Vincennes park, Henderson kept her run on the 32.4km course clean, powering through the time checks and losing out only to the dominant Grace Brown (Australia).
“I didn't realize how slippery it was out there until I was on the course. And I thought ‘I can lose a whole Olympic Games in one corner here’. You gain all of your time for the straight so I really took control,” Henderson said. “And my coach did a really good job to keep me calm the whole way through and keep me pushing until the end.”
For Henderson, it was a dream jump up to second on the podium after the thought of not making her debut at the Olympics crossed her mind when she sustained her second collarbone fracture. However, after returning to racing in June and performing well on home soil, Henderson was quietly confident she could challenge for a medal. Just maybe not a silver one.
“It was a really low point of my season. But I've really bounced back quickly and I could win at the nationals and have a really good ride at the Tour of Britain,” Henderson said. “I had a really good run into this with an altitude camp and everything so really happy with my form and ride today.
“I had half an eye and a dream on the podium [but] I didn't think I'd come this far into the podium.”
Henderson stressed her gratitude to all those around her throughout post-race interviews, notably parents Janet and John and boyfriend Olly Moors, who were all present in Paris to witness her remarkable success after a tough season.
“I'm really thankful for everybody around me that got me here and everyone that got me through today,” Henderson said. "I know I had to just turn the pedals, but there's a whole, huge group of people that got me here and I'm really proud to be here.”
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