Chloé Dygert's challenging 2026 has shown no signs of letting up as the American racer revealed her planned comeback has been adversely affected by multiple conditions and injuries.
Dygert came in 2026 hoping for a better season after a difficult 2025. However, she was a DNF in both the Tour Down Under stage race and one-day event, her first two races of the year. She then finished the Tour of Flanders in 39th place, only to crash out of Paris-Roubaix.
Since then, the Canyon-SRAM racer has been on a fresh road to recovery, but she explained via an Instagram post that despite months of rehab, "it became clear that something still wasn't right."
"Well, that comeback lasted about two rides", Dygert said in a post on Instagram in which she said that since returning to training, she had been diagnosed with RED-S (Relative energy deficiency in sport), as well as suffering other conditions and setbacks.
"I picked up a virus, and my blood markers continue to trend in the wrong direction," she wrote.
"An MRI also confirmed that the shoulder damage from my Roubaix crash will require surgery after rehab wasn’t successful, and further imaging revealed a collapsed nasal valve that will need surgery too."
Racing with Canyon-SRAM since 2021, Dygert's difficulties stretch back to 2020 when the 29-year-old had a terrible crash in the Worlds, entering the time trial as defending champion but leaving with a major injury, after hitting a guardrail and crashing.
Dygert has always battled on, and in 2025 she picked up a stage win at the Tour Down Under, only for the rest of the season to turn out much less well.
"Last year was really hard for me on and off the bike," Dygert told the media at a pre-press conference in Adelaide this January, when she returned to the Tour Down Under to start her season again.
"I've had a lot of years of experience to, you know, let it bother me in the moment and then kind of move on and take a step forward, so this year, I'm just looking forward to learning from the mistakes and trying to stay healthy.
"Some of that's out of my control, but there's some things in my control," she added.
"I'm really taking that step and making sure that I'm fulfilling everything I can to reach the best potential that I have. I'm sick of losing, so this year, I'm really focusing on making sure it doesn't happen much."
However, 2026 has not gone so well for Dygert, and now there are more challenges for the former double world time trial champion to face.
"Not exactly the update I was hoping to share," she concluded on her Instagram post, "but for now it’s back to focusing on recovery, getting healthy, goals haven’t changed. Just the path getting there has. I’ll be back."
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