Australian Tiffany Cromwell’s cycling career has been in the F1 community’s spotlight ever since she started dating Valtteri Bottas in 2020. Naturally, when she injured herself recently, it sent a wave of concern across her acquaintances in the F1 paddock.
Cromwell revealed on Instagram that she fractured her collarbone. She was racing at the Milan-San Remo event in Italy. The incident occurred just 25 km (15.5 miles) into the one-day race.
The 36-year-old, however, appears to be in good spirits. She even made a joke, highlighting how this was her first ‘proper’ injury. “I guess I’m officially a real cyclist now after suffering my first ever collarbone fracture and first proper broken bone of my cycling career. I don’t count my thumb last year,” she wrote on her Instagram caption.
Thankfully, there was good news. She won’t have to undergo a surgery, which her team confirmed on X.
An update on @tiffanycromwell after today’s crash at #SanremoWomen – a fractured collarbone, the first broken bone of her cycling career. Surgery isn’t necessary at this stage.
Guess there’s a first time for everything! #UCIWWT #SanremoWomen pic.twitter.com/wyQQByviOI
— CANYON//SRAM zondacrypto (@WMNcycling) March 22, 2025
Still, Cromwell will need about a month to fully recover. Upon hearing this, several people from the F1 paddock showed their support by commenting on her post.
Bottas and his former Sauber strategist Ruth Buscombe put up heart emojis to show their love toward the Australian cyclist. Meanwhile, George Russell’s girlfriend Carmen Mundt wrote, “Speedy recovery Tiffany”.
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Even Aston Martin tech guru Adrian Newey’s wife Amanda commented, “Ouch. Hope it heals well.” And Sky Sports F1’s Natalie Pinkham warmly wrote, “Get well soon lovely lady”.
Cromwell is hoping to get back on track for gravel races by May. For the time being, she seems comfortable working on her recovery as she even joked about having to do things with her left hand temporarily. “Will focus on recovery, learn how to become left handed and then work hard”.
While Cromwell recovers, she could help the former Mercedes driver improve his cycling—something he has pursued passionately since they started dating.
Will more time help in Bottas getting better with cycling?
Last year, Bottas participated in multiple gravel races in the USA and Finland. In June, he even secured an impressive P2 finish at the Unbound event, a grueling 174 km race.
While that may sound intense, Bottas, with over a decade of experience enduring 300km+ Grand Prix races, likely had the stamina to handle it. However, he has acknowledged that cycling demands a completely different level of fitness compared to F1.
He even stated how in cycling, the vehicle doesn’t matter as much as the rider, contrasting to F1 where it is 90% car and 10% driver.
“That’s why I like cycling because it’s like the opposite. You, as a human, you are the engine, you know, you are the machine.”
Just a couple of weeks after his P2 finish, he even won a gravel race, this time in Finland. It was at the FNLD GRVL event in Lahti where Bottas secured victory in the 114 km Lakes Course. While his final season with Sauber in F1 was disappointing, his cycling exploits kept his competitive spirit alive.
