Steele von Hoff wins gold just seven weeks after breaking six vertebrae in his neck and back
STEELE von Hoff has produced one of Australian cycling’s greatest ever Commonwealth Games performances by winning gold in the men’s road race just seven weeks after breaking six vertebrae in his neck and back.
STEELE von Hoff has produced one of Australian cycling’s greatest ever Commonwealth Games performances by winning gold in the men’s road race just seven weeks after breaking six vertebrae in his neck and back.
Needing help to get out of bed and to the toilet, he refused to give up on his dream and started training on a stationary recumbent bike while lying on his back.
And after 160km on the Gold Coast his once unthinkable dream became a reality when he outsprinted his rivals to win gold at Currumbin.
This was Steele von Hoff a month ago, riding a mountain bike for the first time in a neck brace after breaking four vertebrae. Today he became Commonwealth Games champion with gold in the road race. One of the most incredible things I've ever seen. pic.twitter.com/TfgzHBsxqr
— Reece Homfray (@reecehomfray) April 14, 2018
“I said in the team meeting ‘look I’m not confident, there are a few fast guys here’ and it was my job to mark one of them,” von Hoff said post-race.
“In the split he didn’t make it over and all of a sudden the odds were in my favour and a few people kept saying ‘gee you’re looking good Steele’ and Mat Hayman was in my ear saying ‘you’ve got this’.
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“With 150m to go I thought ‘I’ve actually got some pace here, I could win this’ and the reaction of the crowd told me I’d got the gold.
“I don’t think it’s even sunk in and absorbed yet, the realisation will probably hit tonight that I’ve actually done it.”
Literally hours after he was named in the Australian team for the Commonwealth Games to fulfil a boyhood dream in February, von Hoff had a high-speed crash in a club criterium at Sandown in Melbourne.
Publicly he said he broke four vertebrae but privately it was six — four in his back and two in his neck.
He was in hospital for two nights but back on his bike in six — albeit a recumbent trainer he built years ago for fun and which allowed him to lie on his back and pedal with a pillow under his neck so not to put pressure on his spine.
A week later he grew so tired of pedalling on the spot he decided to sneak out on the road on his mountain bike, wearing a neck brace, and got busted by his dad who’d come home from work early and was coming in the driveway at the same time.
Despite his mother’s understandable angst, von Hoff refused to give up on his dream and told himself he could still do it.
“I was so close to not making the cut for the team, there was a lot of guys who kept on checking up on me to make sure I was all right,” he said.
“I managed to get a recumbent bike back and started spinning the legs again and I thought ‘you know what? I’ve still got seven weeks, I’m feeling all right.”
“I was getting lots of massage and my coach was absolutely amazing all the way through really looking after me and managed to get me here in good form.”
Von Hoff channelled his inner Mathew Hayman who in 2016 broke his wrist and spent a month riding on an ergo trainer in his garage before winning the epic cobbled classic Paris-Roubaix.
“I even put out a Tweet saying I want to release my inner Matty Hayman because he’s been around the traps and is so knowledgeable about all this, and he was definitely a huge part of today,” von Hoff said.
After crossing the line he embraced his partner Emma who is working at the Commonwealth Games and had a look of shock plastered on his face.
Not only was it a win for one of Australian cycling’s good guys but it was a fitting reward for a 30-year-old Victorian who has stuck it out in his sport after losing his WorldTour contract.
It was also the ultimate team performance after Mitch Docker, Callum Scotson, Mathew Hayman, Cameron Meyer and Alex Edmondson worked on the front all day to catch the breakaway and set it up for a sprint where von Hoff finished the job.
Wales’ Luke Rowe and New Zealander Jack Bauer tried late attacks while Wales’ Jonathan Mould finished second and South African Clint Hendricks was third.
Von Hoff’s coach Mark Fenner wasn’t on the Gold Coast to see the race but told New Corp from his home “I’ve been crying and I’ve lost my voice”.
“I’ve known Steele since we were mountain bike riders and he’s a rider who rides on the confidence of others in him, and I thought the team backing him and coming back from this shows his guts and determination,” Fenner said.
Originally published as Steele von Hoff wins gold just seven weeks after breaking six vertebrae in his neck and back
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