Five-time British Cyclo-cross champion back from injury – after 33 years

Chris Wreghitt has set his sights on winning the UCI Masters Cyclo-cross World Championships in December. It’s a logical enough target for a man who once won five successive national championships – except for the fact that he’s been out through injury since 1984.

Worcester News reports that the 59-year-old won five British National Cyclo-cross Championships between 1978 and 1982 but was forced to retire two years later after crashing in the Tour de Romandie while riding on the road for Bianchi.

Speaking to Velo Veritas in 2012, Wreghitt recalled: “All I remember was that I came around a corner only to see a sea of riders on the deck and, as I fell, my back landed, I think, on an upturned pedal.

“As you do, you dust yourself down and jump back on but I started to get some pain in my back and my left knee. Initially I had therapy for my knee, but I was later diagnosed with a compressed vertebra, which was giving me a weakness in the left leg.

“Back in 1984, an operation was considered risky and, despite various attempts at manipulation, traction etc, the back continued to give problems and eventually in August that year, I quit the sport after I decided that I was unlikely to get back to a condition where I could sustain consistent form and fitness.”

He was just 25.

Wreghitt subsequently set up sales and marketing agency, Global Opportunities, and also The Green Bike Company, which initially specialised in selling quality second hand bikes.

But now he’s back cycling, with sponsorship from Planet X, Biemme and Lake Shoes, and will ride a special bike designed to ensure his back is kept in the optimum position.

“The winter season was a trial run to see how I was and then I have got the whole of this year to prepare for the championship,” he said. “It has been a bit of a shock to the system after 33 years away from racing but I feel I am making some progress now.”

He is also hoping to raise £5,000 for Ride for Charlie, a not-for-profit company set up in memory of Charlie Craig, a cyclist who died in his sleep at the age of 15. It aims to support young cyclists who are or would have been inspired by Craig’s love for off road cycling. You can donate here.