MotoGP returns to bring a welcome dose of structure back into Cal Crutchlow’s life

British rider tells Jack de Menezes how he found himself stranded with his family in California not knowing when he would next be able to do what he does best

British rider Cal Crutchlow returned to action on Wednesday at Jerez as MotoGP returns (AFP via Getty)

Emerging from lockdown has been tricky for sport in a new age of coronavirus-governed safety measures, but it has been the one thing driving many professional athletes who were stripped of the one thing that has kept them going: routine.

Being forced to work from home or spend time isolated from the outside world has brought on plenty of anxiety as we slowly learned to live with coronavirus around us, but there are signs that we are getting there.

To get us through the tough times, we turned to exercise. Many utilised their period of walking, running and cycling to make each day slightly different to the last one, improving their mental health just as much as they did physically.

But with sport put on hold, what is an athlete to do? Why run when they’ve been running most of their life? Why train when there’s nothing to train for? Where is the finish line?

That was the hard part for Cal Crutchlow, Britain’s most successful MotoGP rider since Barry Sheene’s success in the 1970s. Before the coronavirus pandemic took a grip of the world, Crutchlow was preparing for the 2020 seasons he normally did. Pre-season tests in Valencia, Jerez, Sepang and Qatar would be followed by the curtain-raiser in the Middle East, with Qatar hosting the first race of the season as it has done since 2008.

But then Covid happened, and the opening race was cancelled, as were many others that resulted in the season put on hold. Sensing that the next race in Thailand would go the same way, Crutchlow thought ahead and flew with his family to their other home in California, with a view to travelling to Austin for the third race of the season. Well, lockdown happened, Austin didn’t and here we are four months later, during which most days were spent pondering what to do.

“I found it hard not having a date,” says Crutchlow. “I didn’t find it hard, I was lucky. I had no family in trouble with the coronavirus or have any symptoms or stuff like that and that’s the main thing.

“Being a sportsman who travels around all the time and does whatever you need to do to be prepared to race, it was a little bit difficult. But I was still able to go out on my bicycle, which was the saving grace. You’re allowed outside for an hour and I was able to ride my bike every day so I had no real problem in regards to keeping motivation and training and doing my job like that.

“But obviously not having a fixed date, do you continue to train how you normally train or do you chill out for a bit? Normally you have to have different goals and peak at different times of the year so the absence of that I found quite a strange situation and feeling, but overall I was ok.

“That’s the thing. I know at what point of the year I have to do something, at what point after a race weekend to recover or to prepare. Then your goal is completely different. We’re not riding, we’re not testing, we’re not practising so what do you do? To get back on the bike this week, I haven’t been on the bike since Qatar and it’s going to be a shock to the system this week for sure.”

Crutchlow finally got back on the bike - literally - on Wednesday as testing began at the Spanish circuit of Jerez, ahead of this weekend’s opening round of the rearranged MotoGP season. With practice, then qualifying, the race and finally his recovery to look forward to, he is already much more at home back with a bit of structure in his life.