Trek Segafredo's Leah Thomas Suddenly Leaves with Back Pain

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Trek Segafredo's Leah Thomas Suddenly Leaves with Back Pain

National professional time trial champion Leah Thomas has announced that she will take an extended break and will not return for a second season with Trek-Segafredo.

Thomas, who underwent cervical spine surgery 10 months ago that allowed her to return to racing and compete in the World Championships and win her first US time trial title, said it is time for her to focus on a full recovery.

"Working closely with my doctors and physical therapist, I have decided to take this time to focus on getting back to full health and I hope to make a full recovery this spring with the goal of retaining my US Time Trial title in late June," Thomas said on her Instagram. [Thomas added on his Instagram, "It was an honor to race with arguably the best team in the world. I want to thank everyone at Trek-Segafredo from the bottom of my heart. I deeply love riding my bike. This decision has been incredibly difficult, but I hope that in the end I will be able to ride pain free again."

She was able to race for 38 days with Trek-Segafredo, but it was not the season she had hoped for. Her last race in Trek colors was the Tour de Romandie in October.

"We are sorry to announce that Leah Thomas will be leaving the team at the end of the year due to back pain...In February 2022, Leah will undergo spinal surgery and has decided to take some time off from racing for further rehabilitation," Trek-Segafredo posted on Twitter. We wish her all the best in her recovery."

Thomas moved from Movistar to Trek-Segafredo last winter, but the excitement of training with Trek-Segafredo's new organization came to an abrupt halt at the end of February. At the time, she explained on social media that her training rides had been "excruciating" and that doctors in the U.S. had confirmed that a herniated disc in her cervical spine was pressing on a nerve, causing arm discomfort and muscle weakness. The surgery was successful and he was able to return to racing at the end of March.

"I've got new hardware. It's been three weeks since the surgery and I'm getting some strength back, but the most important thing is that I'm pain free. I've also grown a little taller. It's hard not to feel lucky to have had this surgery and I look forward to rebuilding soon and racing again," Thomas posted on his Instagram account in March. [33] Thomas, 33, built his fitness with a focus on the national time trial title in June, running the time trial course in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and winning his first Stars and Stripes jersey.

In one-day races in Europe, he was in the breakaway group at La Flèche Wallonne-Feminine and finished 23rd at Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

Instead of racing on cobblestones, she began her first pain-free run in a long time at the Iturria Women and Vuelta a Burgos stage races in Spain in May, winning the bronze medal at the US Pro Road Nationals three times previously, in 2017, 2019, and 2021. She has "balanced recovery and preparation" in her quest for a gold medal in Tennessee.

Under bright blue skies at the foot of the Great Smoky Mountains, she won with a time 44 seconds faster than four-time US time trial champion Amber Neben.

"I feel like I've recovered from a pretty big setback earlier this year when I had surgery. I didn't react as quickly as I had hoped, and I didn't have a very good spring. Despite the lack of positive feedback, I kept working hard," Thomas said after the win. [Digging deep and having a support system around me to remind me that I can do it and that if I keep working hard, things will eventually turn around, I think that's what got me to where I am today." I think what I am most proud of in this race is our effort, my effort and my will to keep plowing.

"I'm really happy to finally win this race because I've been third most of the time on this course. I know this course well as I have run it many times and I wanted to run a good pace.

She rode through the 10-day Giro d'Italia Donnay and the eight-day Tour de France Femme. At the time trial world championships in Wollongong, she represented the U.S. team and finished fifth, one second behind teammate Kristen Faulkner.

Thomas burst onto the cycling scene in 2015 as part of Twenty16-Sho-Air's development program and stayed with the company until 2018, when she signed her first professional contract with United Healthcare. She spent just one season with Movistar before signing a two-year contract with Trek-Segafredo for 2022-2023.

Thomas did not confirm plans to run with a new team in 2023.

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