Leah Thomas to leave Trek-Segafredo due to back pain
The 33-year-old aims to be back in action for the US Pro Cycling National Championships in June 2023.
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American Leah Thomas has announced that she is leaving Trek-Segafredo at the end of the year to focus on rehabilitation due to ongoing back pain.
The US national time trial champion joined the US-registered Women’s WorldTeam in 2022 after a year at Movistar. She inked a two-year contract with Trek-Segafredo but has had ongoing complications following spinal surgery in February of this year.
Thomas said on social media that “significant rehabilitation is still required in order to make a full recovery.”
We're sad to announce that Leah Thomas will be leaving the Team at the end of the year due to ongoing back pain.
In February 2022 Leah underwent spinal surgery and has decided to take some time away from racing to further rehabilitate.
Thank you for everything Leah! pic.twitter.com/t7QBMstifW— Trek-Segafredo (@TrekSegafredo) December 5, 2022
Thomas, 33, started her career with UCI continental team TWENTY16. After three years on the women’s development team, Thomas spent a year at United Healthcare before moving to Bigla Pro Cycling/Bigla-Katusha for two years. After that squad’s tumultuous financial 2020 season, Thomas was picked up by Movistar for 2021 before moving to Trek-Segafredo in 2022.
Thomas said that she hopes to be fully recovered by the spring of 2022 with a target of defending the US national time trial title, which she won last June.
“I deeply love riding my bicycle and hope that this decision, while incredibly difficult, ultimately allows me to ride pain-free once again,” she said.
