McGee to ride Vuelta

Australian Bradley McGee will contest this year's Vuelta a Espana Grand Tour for his Française des Jeux squad and hopes he may have finally found the reason behind health problems that have kept him sidelined. McGee's racing program has been interrupted on numerous occasions in recent years, with the rider struggling to overcome pain from what was initially thought to be a back injury.

McGee was told during a trip to Brussels in May, where he met with Eddy Merckx and 250 of the world's best spinal surgeons, that there may be another issue at hand, and that an operation on the herniated disc was not likely to solve his problem. McGee then returned to Monaco to consult yet another doctor, Dr Pariseaux, who specialises in re-education of professional football players, he explained on his website www.bradleymcgee.com.

A knee scan found a cyst that was believed to be causing the foot numbness, which in turn caused the problem in his leg and into his glutes. All these issues lead to lower back pain and problems McGee was experiencing due to his muscles compensating for one another.

The list of injuries that have contributed to his back problems over the past few years include a slight herniated disc at L4/L5, a pinched nerve at alcochs canal, a heavily contracted piriformis muscle in glutes and a cyst on top of the left fibula.

Dr Pariseaux "dried out" the cyst and, with a slight change in his riding position, McGee has headed to the mountains to train at altitude and test himself for the up coming race. "The sciatica is now no longer raising its ugly head," confirmed the Olympic champion. "Quite possibly the now pulverised cyst was the major cause but I am not wasting any time reflecting on such issues."