Steele von Hoff`s victory in the Commonwealth Games road race, in an 11-man sprint, was Australia`s 14th gold medal of the Games, but the result was made even more remarkable by the 30-year-old`s rapid recovery from multiple fractured vertebrae sustained just two months earlier. Von Hoff had just learned he was named in the Australian team for the Games back in February, when he headed out for what should have been a low-key, safe local criterium on Melbourne`s Sandown Raceway. However, a lapped rider coming back on the wrong line during a surge in the pace led to a devastating crash that left him with four broken vertebrae. Determined to represent his country on the Gold Coast, Von Hoff trained the only way he could - by laying down on a recumbent bike.ADVERTISEMENT `I just wanted to get my legs spinning,` Von Hoff told the Australian about getting on the bike six days after his crash. `And then I thought, I have seven weeks until the Games so I`d better start training. I started doing double sessions on the ergo and started doing some work on a proper bike. I got lots of massages to get me back into good form.` Like his Australia teammate Mat Hayman, who broke his collarbone and trained on the stationary bike before winning Paris-Roubaix two years ago, Von Hoff pushed himself to maintain his fitness, even sneaking out on his mountain bike with a back brace on, two weeks after his injury. Eventually the brace came off, and he was given permission to race. - Reece Homfray (@reecehomfray) April 14, 2018
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