'The hardest week I've done by far all year' – Amber Pate returns to racing at Tour of Britain Women after six months away due to pancreatic tumour

Almost six months on from her last race, Australian rider Amber Pate returned to the peloton at the Tour of Britain Women, the five-day race representing her comeback after surgery to remove a malignant pancreatic tumour.

Pate missed much of the season after the six-hour surgery and long recovery, having last raced at Le Samyn in early March. She was back in action in Britain this week, part of the support squad that helped Liv-AlUla-Jayco leader Caroline Andersson to fourth place overall in Leamington Spa.

“It’s really nice being back with the team and my teammates. It’s – no joke – really, really hard coming back into the peloton at this time of the year. And it’s emotional,” she told Cycling News ahead of the penultimate stage in Mid Wales.

“You could almost feel embarrassed about how your form is, but I’m really determined to just not give up and make the most of it. This is really great to start building my form back, and after such an emotional and challenging year, my outlook is different, and I’m just trying to embrace the opportunities and the moments.”

The 170 days away from racing is the longest Pate has spent without a race in some time, having taken on a full European calendar each year since turning pro with Liv in 2023.

Going from an average of 48 race days a season, including two Grand Tours, to the four she had logged before this week has understandably had an impact.

“So six months away from racing. The first two months when I went back to Australia was dealing with the processes of getting the surgery, and then after the surgery, I had a solid month and a half of very little riding,” she said.

"Then I built up from there. Starting to cope with the intensity and the training load was really hard, so it's taken me some time. And this is the hardest week I've done by far all year, so it's been very challenging!

"Even though I might be the first rider dropped at times, I think it's a really good place to be and just embrace it. Even if I'm looking, let's say, not so good in form, I'm being positive and just refuse to give up. So, I think it's very nice."

Pate hasn't had much racing in her legs, but five challenging days in Britain will give her a base to build on for the end of the season.

Her end-of-season schedule isn't confirmed, but there's still racing to be had on the Women's WorldTour calendar (the Tour of Chongming Island) and beyond (the Italian Classics and the Eneco Tour Women), and Pate wants to pin on a number as much as she can.

"I'm not at race fitness, and I've done so little intensity before this week, and [the team] has been incredibly supportive," she said.

"Even when I feel like I can't even help my teammates at times, they've been supportive and encouraging. That's really important, and I feel very grateful for that.

"I'll be doing as much racing as I can for the rest of the season, and just embrace whatever's to come."

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