Reigning US Pro time trial champion Leah Thomas will take extended time off the bicycle and will not return to Trek-Segafredo for a second season, she announced in a surprising post on social media Monday.
Thomas had cervical spine surgery 10 months ago, and while she was able to return to racing and compete at the World Championships and win her first US time trial title, she said it was time to focus on a full recovery.
“I have decided to take this time to focus on returning to full health, working closely with doctors and physical therapists. I hope to make a full recovery this spring, with the goal of retaining my US national time trial title in late June,” Thomas said on her Instagram feed.
“It's been an honor to race with arguably the best team in the world and I have many memories I will cherish from our time together. I want to say a heartfelt thank you to everybody at Trek-Segafredo for their support. I deeply love riding my bicycle and hope that this decision, while incredibly difficult, ultimately allows me to ride pain-free once again.”
She was able to compete across 38 race days for Trek-Segafredo, but it was not the season she expected. Her final competition in the Trek colours was at Tour de Romandie in October.
“We're sad to announce that Leah Thomas will be leaving the team at the end of the year due to ongoing back pain. In February 2022, Leah underwent spinal surgery and has decided to take some time away from racing to further rehabilitate,” Trek-Segafredo posted to Twitter. “Wishing you all the best for your ongoing recovery!”
Thomas moved from Movistar to Trek-Segafredo last winter, but the excitement of training in the new Trek-Segafredo set-up came to an abrupt halt at the end of February. She took to social media at that time to explain that training rides had been “excruciating” and that doctors in the US confirmed a herniated disc in her cervical spine was pinching a nerve that caused discomfort and muscle weakness in her arm. She had surgery, which was successful, and allowed her to return to racing at the end of March.
“I’ve got some new hardware! Three weeks post op, I’m slowly gaining back some strength but most importantly I am pain free. I’m a little taller too! Hard not to feel very fortunate to have had this procedure and looking forward to rebuilding and racing again soon,” Thomas posted on her Instagram account in March.
The 33-year-old would build her fitness with a focus on the national time trial title in June, and she lit up the time trial course in Oak Ridge, Tennessee to claim the stars-and-stripes jersey, her first.
She jumped back on the bike and into the peloton in Europe for a series of one-day races, getting in the breakaway at La Flèche Wallonne Féminine and even finishing 23rd in Liège-Bastogne-Liège, but admitted the battle to “push through, suffer, fight” for her new team was constant and she came back too soon.
Rather than race the cobbles, she went to Spain in May for stage races Itzulia Women and Vuelta a Burgos and began to ride without pain for the first time in many months. She looked to “balance recovery and preparation” to seek the gold in Tennessee at US Pro Road Nationals, where she had won bronze medals three times before in 2017, 2019 and 2021.
Under bright, blue skies in the foothills of the Great Smoky Mountains, she was 44 seconds faster than four-time US time trial champion Amber Neben for the victory.
“I feel like I have come back from a pretty major setback with having surgery earlier this year. I didn’t respond as quickly as I thought I would and just didn’t have a great spring. I continued to work hard despite not having really any positive feedback,” Thomas said after the victory.
“I think just digging deep and having my support system around me, reminding me that I can do it and that if I keep working things will eventually turn a corner, is what got me here today. I think that our effort, and my effort and willingness to keep ploughing along is what I am most proud of from this race.
“I’ve been third here quite a lot and so it is really nice to walk away with the win finally but it is also really nice to walk away with a solid personal best performance. This course is obviously one that I know really well since we’ve done it so many times and really wanted to pace this one really well and I think I did that.”
She rode through the 10-day Giro d’Italia Donne and eight-day Tour de France Femmes, but only had one time trial across those events to wear the national title skinsuit. She represented Team USA at the time trial World Championships in Wollongong, where she finished fifth, one spot ahead of US teammate Kristen Faulkner.
Thomas burst onto the cycling scene in 2015 as part of the development Twenty16-Sho-Air programme where she stayed until signing her first pro contract with UnitedHealthcare in 2018. She spent only one season with Movistar and had signed a two-year contract with Trek-Segafredo for 2022-2023.
Thomas did not confirm her plans to ride with a new team for 2023.
