One year ago Alvaro Hodeg was involved in a transit accident that nearly took his life. 12 months and 12 surgeries later, Hodeg is back on the bike and loving it.
After 5 years with Decueninck Quickstep, Alvaro Hodeg made the move to UAE Emirates heading into the 2022 to take bigger role in the classics, which has always been a dream for the 26 year old Colombia. However, things would take a turn for the worse because in the off season between the 2021 & 2022 calendar, Hodeg was involved in a very hard transit accident close to where he lives in Medellin Colombia.
The extent of Alvaro’s injuries are very difficult to describe, but consist of a broken shoulder, broken clavicle, 2 broken wrists, broken hand, broken arm, 2 broken legs, broken foot & many others. Alvaro could not walk, move from a seated position, or do any basic human thing on his own.
Over the course of the year, close friends & founder of PTC Zack Morris visited the home of Hodeg several times. Witnessing the extent of the injuries and limitations that they had put on Alvaro’s basic abilities to move.
“It was heart breaking, It’s really difficult to see somebody that you really care about in that state. I’m not sure that people will ever truly understand how far Alvaro had to come to walk, let a lone get back on his bike or even think about being competitive in sport.”
Zack Morris
” In Colombia, we call Alvaro “Alvarito” which means little Alvaro, and it has nothing to with his size. Alvaro is a big strong guy. But Alvaro is the type of person who brings everyone up around him, and genuinely wants to see people succeed. He has the innocence and charisma of a child, and is truly a sweet guy”, said Morris.
Alvaro has been back on the road now for a couple of weeks and all signs are pointing towards a strong recovery for the Colombian, which wasn’t always a sure thing. Through the recovery process the severity of Alvaro’s injuries left many questions up in the air about his return to the sport. On contract with UAE until the end of 2023, Alvaro still has a full season to come back and prove to the world that he can do it. However, we don’t want to downplay just how difficult this come back will be.
From a physiological perspective, the of Hodeg has been through a lot of trauma, and then a lot of time with little to know activity. A year of this, is a lot and going from this life back to the life of a top World Tour level sprinter is no easy task. Alvaro admitted that at one point returning to the sport wasn’t even on his mind. His first priority was just being able to do basic things, then to be able to see his friends, and eventually go for a single bike ride. After a few rides, he said he’s excited to come back to the sport, and wants to race again.
We’ll have to wait a little longer to see how Alvaro progresses, but we’re very excited to see him back on the bike and working towards returning to the professional sport.
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