‘This year has been a tough one mentally’ – Jay Vine making a cautious comeback following Giro d’Italia abandon

Despite a promising beginning, the 2026 season hasn’t gone to plan for Jay Vine, who is now steadily plotting his return to full fitness after being involved in a mass crash on the second stage of the Giro d’Italia in Bulgaria.

The season began for the UAE Team Emirates-XRG rider with victories in both the Australian time trial championship and the Tour Down Under, although the latter was almost derailed by a freak collision with a kangaroo.

Vine returned to racing at the Volta a Catalunya in March following wrist surgery, but only lasted three stages before abandoning due to a crash. He admitted during the race that the fractured wrist continued to cause him pain.

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After a period of altitude in Sierra Nevada, Vine made it to the Giro d’Italia for his first major objective of the season. However, he was taken down in a crash along with several of his UAE Team Emirates-XRG team mates on stage 2 to Veliko Tarnovo, suffering a concussion and a fracture to his elbow. He left the Giro carried on a stretcher in the back of an ambulance.

After a turbulent few months, Vine has said that he plans to take things steady as he builds up for the second half of the year.

“Two weeks post-Giro and things are finally starting to head in the right direction,” Vine said on an Instagram post.

“The concussion symptoms have turned a corner, the metrics and SCAT protocols are showing good progress, and most importantly I’m feeling good again.”

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“Really happy with where things are at,” Vine added.

The Australian’s team was diminished in number to five following the crash, but has rallied to win four stages in the Giro’s opening two weeks, with Ecuadorian Jhonatan Narvaez vying for the maglia ciclamino.

Vine has managed to return to the bike to train outdoors, but is not yet setting a schedule on his return to racing.

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“The elbow has also progressed a lot quicker than the old scaphoid did, which has meant I’ve been able to get back out for some easy rides outdoors already,” he said.

The Queenslander admitted that the relentless setbacks have made 2026 challenging.

“Not going to lie, this year has been a tough one mentally,” he said.

“Every time things start building in the right direction, another setback seems to pop up, and when a lot of it is completely out of your control it definitely wears thin.”