‘I couldn’t use any of my fingers’ – Michael Matthews back on the bike after breaking both arms in training crash

The 35-year-old had just finished an altitude camp and was gearing up for the Spring Classics when he crashed on March 5. Matthews gave no details about how the crash happened but described his serious injuries.

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“I had a really bad training accident where I had a really bad open fracture on my left arm, cut tendons on my thumb, a broken wrist, a broken thumb [on his right hand] – so it was two different surgeries,” Matthews said while gesturing with his hands.

“The first surgery, we had to do it straight away in Italy for the left arm. And after a few days in Italy, we flew to Belgium … to do the surgery for the tendon on my right thumb. Also, a sinus fracture in the face, as you can see, probably the stitches still healing in the face.”

Matthews also shared X-ray imaging of his arms showing two plates – one in his radius and one in the humerus of his left arm – and photos from just after the accident showing a bandage on his cheek and a black left eye.

“It’s been a process. It’s been long. It’s been six weeks now since the accident. I have almost full movement back in my fingers, which I’m very, very happy about. I think it was three weeks with no exercise at all, so that was quite difficult for me,” he said.

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“After that, I could start with some fast-paced walking and a little bit of gym to keep the muscles in my legs. And after I think it was four weeks, I could jump back on the home trainer on Zwift and got some good sessions on there – short, but just to keep the body moving. I’m third day back on the road now, still with casts on the bike, but just really happy to be back on the bike.”