Dame Sarah Storey says that overcoming a partially collapsed lung to peak at the UCI World Championships is her biggest challenge yet.
In August 2022, Britain’s greatest Paralympian suffered broken ribs and lung damage from a crash at a World Cup road race in Canada.
It ruled her out of the 2022 Worlds and she subsequently contracted Covid, tonsillitis and then a bad chest infection, making for a long road back to this week’s showpiece in Glasgow.
“I’d be lying if I didn’t say I thought, ‘oh my goodness,’” said the 45-year-old from Manchester. “You always hope there’s not going to be a crash that makes a (retirement) decision for you.
“I was shocked to discover my lung was as damaged as it was. It has been quite a long recovery and I didn’t think I appreciated just how badly injured it was.
“The pain of broken ribs stayed with me all the way through and it was only the forced rest from the illness that allowed them to properly heal.
“It’s been more of a challenge than ever to be in the right place.
“This has been without a doubt my most difficult and complicated preparation for a World Championships and the crash happened in a bunch, so that obviously brought psychological challenges that needed to be overcome as well.”
Due to scheduling clashes Storey won’t race on the track in Scotland but is targeting gold in the road race and time trial events, staged on tricky courses in Dumfries and Galloway.
Like Tom Daley, who this week revealed he was inspired to target another Olympics by son Robbie, the 17-time Paralympic champion is pursuing Paris because of her brood.
“After Tokyo, (son) Charlie said, ‘I want to watch you at the Paralympics’ and I’m like ‘okay, there we go, we’re back on the rollercoaster,’” said Storey.
“(Daughter) Louisa has been stage racing with us and she’s seen what goes into it, the preparation, the massages, all of those things, it’s a unique opportunity for them and incredibly exciting.
“I read what Tom said and I got exactly what he was saying. If the body’s willing, we’ll be there!”
For the first time at a World Championships, riders from all cycling disciplines will gather and compete for more than 200 rainbow jerseys.
Storey, part of the campaign team to reinstate Tour de France Femmes, sees this as a big step forward.
“We talk about inequities between male and female sport and a lot of my campaigning has been about inequality between disabled and non-disabled people,” she said.
“The para peloton and para sport in general is on a journey in the saame way as women’s sport has been over the last number of years.
“It’s a much newer part of the sport and these sorts of events are part of that stepping stone, and the logistics about how you integrate will be part of the journey this week.
“I think it’s an incredibly ambitious event. We’re all excited by it and slightly nervous as well. It’s the most ambitious sporting event the UK has hosted since London 2012.”
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