Alice Towers should have been lining up for Great Britain at the World Championships in Montréal this week. Instead, a crash in a wet race in France left her unconscious, in hospital and with a concussion. She has no memory of it. Two weeks later she sits down with Aidan Burgess to explain what the injury has done to her.
She is open about the symptoms. There was a pounding headache that felt like her heart was beating inside her head, and her fuse became so short that small things upset her. On her first ride outside she stopped to check her wheel, then her headset, before she realised the problem was her balance. She also explains the return to training protocol. It starts with 30 minutes on the trainer below 120 bpm, and any symptoms mean she has to wait another day.
Then the conversation turns to the race she is missing. She talks about Zoe Backstedt's silver in the time trial and Team GB's plan to attack in the road race. She explains why racing a circuit with no radios is so confusing from inside the bunch. She also gives her picks for the podium and backs her EF Education-Oatly teammates, including defending champion Magdeleine Vallieres at a home Worlds.
The last part of the episode is about her. Towers is 23 and in her first season at EF after three years at Canyon//SRAM. She talks about wanting more chances for herself without giving up the domestique work she loves. She would like to target the Ardennes, and she looks ahead to the 2027 Tour de France Femmes, which starts in Britain and goes through the Peak District roads where she learned to ride. She also has an opinion on whether women's cycling needs a three week Grand Tour.
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