Oscar Onley returns to racing at Tour de Suisse

The opening act

2024 has certainly been a year of ups and downs for Oscar Onley, starting off brilliantly with a stage win at the Tour Down Under before things literally came crashing down for him the following week at Cadel Evans Great Ocean Road Race where he hit the deck and broke his collarbone.

Reflecting on that opening period of the year, Oscar said: “I was confident going into Tour Down Under. We had put the training kilometres in, and I had worked harder earlier than ever before in the winter to be ready for the race. To get that stage win and fourth on GC was a nice week. At that point I had then hoped to continue that into Cadel’s Race and back into Europe for a few more races.

“Mentally it is hard to crash when you are good shape, so it was an interesting start to the year. I had to kind of reset and start the season again almost after that. I was of course disappointed but at the same time I tried to take it as a blessing and enjoy the time at home, because I hadn’t been there much in the time before that. The win kind of took the pressure off a little bit mentally, and I knew that I had the time needed to get back for Itzulia Basque Country.”

Misty mountains to Ardennes anguish

A period of recovery and rehab followed, before Oscar headed to Mount Teide with the team for a High Altitude Camp in March; preparing for an exciting block of racing in April. With a good three weeks of training up on the famous mountain in his legs, Oscar immediately hit the ground running by taking third at GP Indurain and was set for Itzulia Basque Country.

There, an unfortunate crash on stage two just outside of the three-kilometre zone saw Oscar involved and held up and unfortunately, he lost time on GC because of it. A fighting ride on the final day saw him compete with the best in the race from the breakaway, ultimately taking fifth on the day and a bit of a “what if” feeling.

Heading into the upcoming Ardennes period, Oscar and the team had marked Amstel Gold Race and La Flèche Wallonne as big target events where they had hoped to be in the mix for a top result. However, plans and ambitions were stopped in their tracks as Oscar unfortunately broke his collarbone for the second time this season; and the third time in a span of a year, at Amstel Gold Race.

“The break in April was a lot more difficult for me mentally,” explained Oscar. “I had big goals for the upcoming races with the team which made it harder. Seeing all your teammates, friends and peers racing and getting good results at that time while you’re sat on the sofa and can’t really do anything; that was a pretty tough period.

“To be honest, I just switched off from cycling for a bit at that time. I tried to keep away from my phone and do some other things. I bought some Lego and was trying to keep my mind busy. I think if you sit on the sofa all day and just think of what you should be doing, or what others are doing, then it can become overwhelming almost. So, I was just trying to keep myself busy and switch off from cycling for a little bit.”

Resetting once more and building for what’s next

After that crash in Amstel Gold Race, Oscar once again was on the sidelines while he recovered but in a case of déjà vu; he returned to Tenerife recently for another High Altitude Camp with the team; where he’s been putting in the hard yards on the bike.

Heading onto the mountain “fresher mentally” after all his Lego building and extended social media hiatus, Oscar is now “ready to get back to the job” at the Tour de Suisse.

Making that racing comeback, again

Pinning a number on for the first time in roughly eight weeks this weekend, Oscar has got that racing itch back but he also jokes that he would like to get through things day-by-day and “when nothing happens on some stages and I just finish in the bunch without any mishaps, that would be nice too.”

Of course, the talented Development program graduate also doesn’t just want to make up the numbers in the bunch; he wants to be up there competing throughout the week.

“On paper I think the route really suits my characteristics. I want to make the most of this opportunity and show the legs and training that we have been working on for the past few months. I want to come out of the race with the best results we can.”

Looking at the parcours, almost every stage ends on some form of climb; with some more serious mountains than others, before the race ends with a mountain time trial, a stage that Oscar is particularly looking forward to.

In fact, the last mountain TT that Oscar did was back when he was a junior rider in 2020. On that day the team’s Development program was in action at Tour de Savoie Mont Blanc and there was a sportive event held on the exact same parcours. 17-year-old Oscar put in a barnstorming ride to set what would have been the 11th fastest time if he was riding in the actual race.

“One of my friends Lenny [Martinez] was also in that race and we’re both doing Tour de Suisse, so it will be fun to race against him in a mountain TT again.”

Clearly excited to pin on a race number once more, we’ll be following along excitedly to see how Oscar progresses throughout the week, and keeping everything crossed that the race goes smoothly and without incident.

With a mature head on his shoulders, Oscar has taken some things from his tougher times and shares one last final anecdote.

“You must learn to think positively, even when everything hasn’t been positive. That’s what I’ll take with me from all of this.”

Now, let’s go racing!