‘I couldn’t live like that’ – Matt Dinham returns to the peloton at Tour de Langkawi after nearly two years off racing and a decision to take a chance with surgery

There was one rider at the Petronas Le Tour de Langkawi on Sunday who had every reason to be a little more excited than most to be on the start line, that alone being a win given how hard the road to pinning a number on again has been for Australia’s Matt Dinham.

The Picnic Post NL rider had worked his way into the WorldTour in 2023 and quickly vindicated the signing, coming ninth in the young rider category at the Tour de France and showing just how much he could be capable of when he came seventh in the gruelling elite men’s race at the Glasgow World Championships. Though his attempt to launch into the 2024 season to build on that promise and potential just kept being delayed. First it was a stress fracture but when that healed the pain didn’t abate, and after a long and challenging period he finally discovered that accessory veins were causing tarsal tunnel syndrome in his ankle.

“I was a little bit anxious and a little bit nervous last night, maybe a little bit excited as well so combined with the jet lag I didn’t get much sleep,” Dinham told Cyclingnews just before the start of stage 1, a wet but warm circuit around the island of Langkawi. “But, yeah, it’s great to be back here.”

Regardless of the nerves there was no questioning the satisfaction that came with lining up, but there were also no big expectations for the rider as he set out into the warm drizzle of the first stage around the tourist island of Langkawi, with its UNESCO listed Geopark, white sandy beaches and turquoise waters punctuated by limestone outcrops

“It was a little bit of a rush to get back in before this race, and it had to definitely be adapted with the rehab as the priority, but there’s still some form there so we’ll see how it goes,” said Dinham.

Still, the race with a mix of WorldTour, ProTeams and Continental squads near the season end seemed a target worth chasing as a gentle reboot to a cycling career that looks to hold much promise.

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“We wanted to find the right balance, and not starting back with the hardest races like Canada,” said Dinham in a team statement. “Langkawi and then Guangxi felt like the perfect way to return. My training sessions have been good and I’ve done everything I can to be ready.”

What he has been getting ready for is a wide open eight days of 2.Pro level racing, with most of the stages likely to finish in a sprint, though the obvious exception is stage 5, which ends on the category 1 climb of Fraser’s Hill.

“If I can look back after Langkawi and know I gave everything, I’ll be happy,” said Dinham. “I just want to do my best and enjoy being back racing with the team.”

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After all, it has been a hard road to make it there as not only was it a long process to find out exactly what was wrong, with agony when training attempts were made and even a relaxed walk being a challenge, but once the diagnosis of tarsal tunnel syndrome was made, resolving it was no simple issue.

Surgery carrying a 30 percent chance of never walking or riding normally again was the option, with Dinham having the procedure in May.

“It was a bit scary. But I couldn’t live like that,” said Dinham in the team release. “Most days I couldn’t walk for more than a few minutes without pain.”

He also was not prepared to give up on professional cycling, not after having worked so hard to make it to the top tier.

“I wanted nothing more than to keep cycling. As an Australian it’s so hard to make it as a pro in Europe, and I’d sacrificed so much. I started racing when I was four years old. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.”

And now, it seems, he won’t have to.