The last time Sarah Gigante lined up to race with her AG Insurance Soudal team was 265 days ago. But after recovering from iliac artery endofibrosis surgery in December the Australian rider will get to line up once again at the Tour of Norway on Saturday.
"A big thumbs up from Norway," said Gigante in an Instagram post. "It’s been 265 days since I last raced with my team, back in Switzerland last September, but the wait is finally over. No matter how it goes this weekend, I know that pinning on a number again will already feel like a huge win."
It is an earlier than expected return for the 24-year-old, who had to forgo her 2024 Tour Down Under title defence as a result of the surgery. She has been working back to fitness at home in Australia, both on the indoor trainer and by jumping into local crits once able to ride. She also used some Strava QOM efforts to measure her recovery and fuel her motivation, knocking a huge chunk off her time up Tawonga Gap between Mount Beauty and Bright to consolidate her QOM margin to over two minutes.
