Jay Vine returned to action this week at Volta a Catalunya, eight weeks after an eventful stage 5 at Tour Down Under. The final stage brought him a second career GC title at his home race, as well as a close encounter with one of two kangaroos and a broken wrist.
“Everyone knows by now. A kangaroo jumped into the peloton, causing half the peloton to hit the ground. It made news worldwide, but it would be nice if the sport were known for something other than a kangaroo jumping in front of the riders. It is what it is,” Vine told Sporza Tuesday after a second day of racing in northern Spain.
While Vine said he had no idea how either kangaroo fared from the unexpected crash on January 25, what he could confirm was that surgery to repair his broken scaphoid had gone well but that rehabilitation could take “nine to 12 months”.
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“Still a lot of progression needs to happen with the wrist in regards to pain management but we have come a long way in the last four weeks since hitting the roads again,” he said on his Instagram feed on Monday.
The Tour Down Under was more than eventful for his UAE Team Emirates-XRG squad, with his teammates Jhonathan Narváez and Vegard Stake Laengen suffering injuries on stage 4 which took them out of the race. Narváez is still recovering from several thoracic vertebrae fractures. The kangaroo crash also brought down Mikkel Bjerg, who has not raced since.
The stage 5 disaster took place with 95km to go when a pair of kangaroos bolted across the course as the peloton sped along, TV cameras from broadcasters showing one kangaroo darting through and riders later telling the media that there were actually two that hopped through the peloton. With the injured wrist, Vine had to chase back to the leading bunch to retain the ochre jersey.
Vine had surgery in Australia the day after the Tour Down Under ended and spent his recovery time with family at their Andorra base, tackling base miles on the trainer, and had only ridden outside two weeks ago. He finished in the peloton on both opening stages at Volta a Catalunya.
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“It would be nice to get a result, but I don’t think I’m at a high enough level yet to compete with these guys. We have João [Almeida] and Brandon [McNulty] who are doing very well. The goal is to support them.”
Also making a return to racing is teammate Filippo Baroncini, who suffered a terrible crash in the 2025 Tour de Pologne. The 25-year-old Italian finished both days in chase groups, well behind GC leader Dorian Godon (Ineos Grenadiers) and race favourite Remco Evenepoel (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe).
After the seven-day Volta a Catalunya, Vine was expected to take part in a training camp in Spain as he looked to return to form for the Giro d’Italia, which begins May 8.
He was looking forward to stage 10 of this year’s Giro, which offered a 40km individual time trial that he said was “on my bucket list” when the route was announced over the winter.
“There is a very nice time trial on the tenth day. It is completely flat. That is what I am looking forward to most. Anything else that comes with it is a positive thing.”