Michael Valgren's body carries the scars of his terrible 2022 crash, and he appeared to have forgotten what it was like to spray the spumante on the winner's podium. But there was no doubt the Dane was back to his best at Tirreno-Adriatico during stage 5 into Mombaroccio, and back winning after a five-year gap.
The EF Education-Easypost rider needed eight months away from racing and further months of physiotherapy and gym work after a crash at La Route d'Occitanie nearly five years ago, but he eventually made a full recovery.
The 2018 Amstel Gold Race and Omloop Nieuwsblad winner suffered a fractured pelvis, dislocated hip and serious knee ligament damage, but never gave up, even when a return to racing seemed unlikely.
In his absence, the sport accelerated, forcing Valgren to work even harder. He has gone close to victory in the last two years but finally won again on the steep rolling roads of Le Marche.
"I think I've been back for quite a while, but after my injury, it was hard to come back to my level, and I was out for quite a time. Then my old level wasn't high enough anymore, so I had to find a new level," Valgren explained, his emotions clear to see in the post-race press conference.
"I think I've now reached an even higher level. That's just the way cycling has been going the last few years. You just need to take a step up every year. It feels amazing to win. We train to win, and today I had amazing legs. To win this stage, such a hard stage, is a surprise, but it's nice, I'm happy."
Valgren joined the quality early break of the stage to be there for team leader Ben Healy on the final climbs and twisting circuit around Mombaroccio.
UAE Team Emirates-XRG led the chase, but the break was defiant, and then Valgren attacked with 27km to go, knowing the peloton was in hot pursuit.
"I could hear over the radio that the peloton was coming, so I knew I had to go. Julian Alaphilippe came with me and worked too, so we stayed away," Valgren explained.
"The DNA in our team is to always try to do something different and win the race. It's all about just having legs in the end, and I had good legs. I had to go and hope for the best. This win means it means everything. You know, like, this is basically what I train for all winter."
Valgren turned 34 on February 7 but never lost his desire to win bike races.
"If you start to lose that winning mentality, you might as well stop racing," he said.
"I never lost that, even though it's been a while. At first, I believed that if I could do a final, then that's a small win for me. Then I worked hard so that I could maybe get a result and take something good out of the races. I had a great winter and even became a father, and I felt I was riding well this season.
"I'm not that young anymore. I feel young, but my birth certificate says something else. But hopefully I can live off this form for quite a while and maybe race a few years."
