CLIMBING BACK

Sidelined due to a mystery knee injury, Stephen Williams talks to CW about his annus horribilis

- Chris Marshall-Bell

It’s been bumpy, but Williams is on the road to recovery his is a story of pain. Of frustration, of sympathy, of agony, of hope, and of just wanting a stroke of luck.

“In the space of 14-15 months, I have gone from the very top of the world to rock bottom.”

That is how Stephen Williams summarises his struggles of the past year-and-a-bit.

Two summers ago, the Welshman — who only started racing aged 16 — emerged as one of the brightest young climbers in the peloton, winning two stages and the GC at the Ronde de l’Isard. He followed that up by winning a stage of the Baby Giro and finishing fifth overall.

“Look at my results before 2018 and, let’s face it, I had done nothing,” the 23-year-old tells Cycling Weekly, modestly choosing to ignore the promise he had shown with JLT-Condor and SEG Racing in the previous two seasons.

“But everything came together and I had a 10-week period of being dominant. I grew in confidence and worked very hard to become a good rider.”

WorldTour team Bahrain-Merida called and signed him on a two-year contract. But instead of new opportunities he found discomfort and vexation.

He started suffering pain in his left knee in November 2018, where the hamstring tendon meets the head of the fibula. He was sent back to the UK to receive treatment by Manchester City’s medical facility, “but it didn’t get better and gradually got worse and worse.”