After 10 weeks in a neck brace following her season-ending crash at the Tour de France Femmes, Pfeiffer Georgi (DSM-Firmenich PostNL) has finally returned to training on the road.
The British national champion sustained fractures in her neck and hand on stage 5 at the Tour, in the same mass crash that saw Demi Vollering lose the yellow jersey. Georgi, however, is confident of re-finding her fitness ahead of the incoming 2025 season.
"It all happened so quickly. I know we were coming from a roundabout, and then the corner turned really sharp to the left, and I just remember people crashing in front of me," said Georgi as she recalled the incident to Cyclingnews and Daniel Benson at Rouleur Live."I didn't really have time to do anything and just flipped over my bars."
Georgi immediately recognised the pain and the severity of her injury, having fractured the other side of her C7 vertebra and part of her thoracic spine in a crash at Brugge de Panne in 2020.
"Actually, I've broken the same vertebrae on the other side, so I knew the sensation. So I kind of thought, oh, this could be quite bad, because I couldn't really move, and I had the same sort of pain," she said.
"I also thought immediately my hand was broken but that only got confirmed when I went to the hospital."
Three months on and Georgi is finally back.
"It's been a long time. I've done two days on the road now, which has been amazing to finally get back on," she said.
"Longer than expected. Initially, I thought it would just be about a month but they said the fracture needed three months to heal. Now I'm in physio twice a week, just getting the neck moving again for when I'm back on the road.
"The fractures were both stable, luckily, which was good. I just had to wear a neck brace for 10 weeks to keep it stable. But it was just a matter of recovery, no surgery."
While struggling to eat and being forced to sleep on her back to accommodate the brace have become normalities for Georgi in her 10-week period of rest, it's all eyes on the next season now for the 24-year-old Brit.
"I think fitness-wise, it should come back quickly. Obviously, the endurance will take a bit longer but I think we're just going to build really slowly, not to put too much strain on the neck," she continued.
"I'm not worried about timing for next year. I think maybe a similar program to 2024, obviously, with a focus on the Classics like Roubaix. I loved it this year and it's a big goal of mine. I think I have plenty of time before then."
She spoke to Rouleur about taking the "next step" in her career as a now-established top rider, alongside Ben Healy and Olav Kooij on the stage, with next season all about finding more consistency and challenging for podiums and wins more often.
Georgi was already one of DSM's most important riders as their Classics leader and a key cog in Charlotte Kool's lead-out train, which guided the Dutchwoman to two Tour de France Femme stage wins. However, with the departure of GC star Juliette Labous, there's more pressure on Georgi will have to take that next step.
Prior to her season at the Tour, it had been another great year for the Brit, netting fifth in the Paris Olympic Games road race, fourth at Amstel Gold Race, and the emotional third place at Paris-Roubaix, which saw her break into tears on the broadcast when she realised she'd pipped Marianne Vos to the final podium spot.
"The first part of the year was really great. I think it's probably a step up from last year as well. Roubaix is definitely the highlight, and I think it just gives me confidence for next year, knowing that I can reach that level in that type of race," she said.
And while she and Kool may be the key to DSM-Firmenich PostNL succeeding next year, it will require the whole team to step up to compete against women's cycling's bigger teams such as SD Worx-Protime, Canyon-SRAM and FDJ-SUEZ.
"We're maybe not the biggest names, but I think when we're together, we can do a lot. We all just get on really well. And I think every one of my teammates would die for you, they will commit 100 per cent," said Georgi.
"They know that if they do that, they'll have their chances. My first few years in the team, I was always support, and then I got given some opportunities to be a road captain and a leader, and now I love being part of the lead-out for Charlotte, and I also get my own opportunities in the classics."
