Cameron Scott is targeting a place on the world tour after a surprising recovery from a shocking crash.
The Pro Racing Sunshine Coast rider was involved in a mass pile-up on the last day of the national road racing season near Tweed Heads in early December, when he collided with a stationary motorbike.
While the riders at the front of the peloton were able to veer away, Scott had no chance and ploughed into the back of the vehicle at about 60km/h.
Many riders toppled over and the 23-year-old was among the worst affected, suffering a fractured pelvis, in three places.
“That’s by far the worst crash I’ve been involved in,” he said.
“It was a bit of bad luck. There were a few people in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
It was the first time during a decade of serious racing that he’d been in a serious accident. He hadn’t even been to hospital before.
But this was a bad one, with breaks on the front, side and back of pelvis bones.
He spent a week in hospital before surgery.
“It was a pretty big operation and it knocked me around a lot,” he said.
He required another two weeks in hospital, before being released on Christmas Eve.
But doctors warned him it would be a long and testing recuperation.
“They said it was going to be three months on crutches and that full recovery would take up to 12 months,” he said.
But that was the cue for a surprisingly quick comeback.
Scott was off crutches in six weeks and was back on the bike almost immediately.
“Each day I was getting better and better – I was in the gym doing exercises to get balance.”
He said there was no time to lament over the crash.
“You’ve just got to accept it and keep your head up and keep moving and do what you can to get better and back racing as soon as possible.”
Staggeringly, he returned to competition just three months after the surgery.
Scott’s done some local races around Adelaide, where he is based, and recently competed in his first major event since the injury. He finished 13 seconds behind the winner, Jason Plowright, in the Melbourne to Warrnambool Classic.
“The recovery has gone really well, quicker than I expected,” he said.
“I’ve done a couple of months of decent training and a few races and my form has come up really quickly. I can’t ask for more.
“I did everything they (doctors and physiotherapists) told me to do and that’s played a big part in it.”
He’s bound for the Grafton to Inverell race on May 8, and is intent on making an impact on the domestic racing scene during 2021.
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But ultimately, he wants to reach cycling’s biggest stage.
“I’d love to be racing in the world tour. I’m trying to get there as soon as possible,” he said.
“Hopefully, next year, but if that doesn’t happen, then I’ll persist and keep working towards it.”
Scott has already made a mark on the track, having won gold in the Team Pursuit at the world championships in Poland in 2019.
But he was somewhat surprisingly omitted from the track team for the Tokyo Olympics this year and is now focused on the road.
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He’s shown glimpses of his potential on the road, with a stage win at the New Zealand Classic and a stage win of the Tour of Qinghai Lake, both in 2018. He also won the Australian under-23 criterium title at Ballarat in 2018.
From country town Camden in New South Wales, he moved to Sydney and then to Adelaide, linking with the Sunshine Coast Cycling Academy and its pro road racing team in 2018.
“They’ve looked after me really well,” he said of the academy, which is based at the University of the Sunshine Coast and boasts coaches like Ben Kersten, Stuart Shaw, Matt Wilson and Henk Vogels.
“I’ve got a good relationship with the coaches and support staff. They’ve helped me a lot with my development.”
