From learning to walk again to top ten finish 'Down Under’: Visma | Lease a Bike’s Thomas Gloag rediscovers his love for cycling

Thomas Gloag faced a long road to recovery after a serious knee injury from a collision during training sidelined him for nearly a year. The 23-year-old Brit riding for Visma | Lease a Bike returned to racing in mid-2024 and has started 2025 with a bang: securing two top-ten finishes and an impressive eighth place in the Tour Down Under overall classification.

Gloag made his comeback last year at the Czech Tour, where he immediately claimed his first professional victory — a fairy-tale moment. "My plan was always to come back and be competitive straight away," Gloag told Rouleur. "People would always say at the start of rehab: when are you planning to return to the peloton again? I think that's the wrong question to ask, because turning up to a race is one thing, being competitive in a race is a whole different kettle of fish."

"I don’t turn up to races and not be competitive," Gloag explained. "I’ve done that bashing round the Giro d’Italia in 2023. Before Czech, I knew that I was in a really good place, but I did miss a little bit last year in terms of those micro accelerations. That’s something that will come when I manage to race more." His performances in Australia show that the young climber is continuing to improve.

For now, Gloag isn’t setting any major goals beyond racing as much as possible. "This year, it's a very boring goal, but I'd love to just get 50 or 60 race days in. I feel like a big silver lining of going from not being able to walk to learning how to win a pro bike race for the first time is that you get to understand yourself."

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At the Tour Down Under, Gloag finished a handsome eighth

Heavy crash made Gloag more mature

"I think my first year in the team I was quite insecure," Gloag admitted. "Surrounded by a lot of really good riders on the team. I came from a small Continental team to one with the Tour de France winner and the Giro d’Italia winner. That was a lot to get my head round. The fact that I managed to come back from my crash and win helped me build some more inner confidence."

Despite his progress, Gloag remains modest about his journey to the top. "I’m someone that kind of lucked into the position I'm in. It’s not like I had from a young age a massive want to be a professional cyclist. It's obviously something that I've really enjoyed, but I kind of found myself here more by chance, and then by pure will."

That determination hasn’t always worked in his favor, as he learned during his early years with Visma | Lease a Bike. "Probably my biggest mistake before getting hit by a car when I was in my first year professional was I wanted it too much and I didn't know when to back off. Once you start gaining that confidence and feeling it within yourself, you start looking for a lot less validation from people like your trainer or the team. Everyone is very professional at Visma and has a massive inner drive. That can be overdone sometimes even – it's a weird little balance. I think I found that quite nicely this year."

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"Being competitive doesn't always mean winning"

The crash took a significant toll on Gloag, forcing him to start from scratch. He recalled fainting in the shower when he first saw the extent of his muscle loss. Yet, he never doubted he would return. "I think I was a bit delusional, because I just convinced myself I was always going to come back. I didn't even consider the possibility that it wasn't possible."

The harrowing experience gave him a renewed appreciation for his sport. "The perspective that I gained from that crash is I just really enjoy bike racing, I’m really grateful to be doing it and just finishing safely."

While Gloag aims to be competitive, he clarifies what that means for him. "For me being competitive just means being able to help a team win. I don't have that much experience, so it's not like I can do a fantastic job in the early parts of a race for the guys, so I have to compensate a little bit with my level to help the team win. I try to really focus on the physical preparation and I’ll do whatever the team wants me to do with that. That is what we're really good at, doing the right steps day by day to get you fit."

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