Ivan Velasco crashed hard in the Vuelta a Espana and while he finished the stage, subsequent examinations showed that he had broken his femur. Having been promised a spot on his Caja Rural team, the Spaniard still hopes that he will be able to continue his career.

It has been a difficult few years for Ivan Velasco. At the end of the 2012 season, he was told by the Euskaltel team that his contract wouldn't be renewed. The Basque squad was in desperate need of WorldTour points and while Velasco is a talented climber, his role as a domestique had left him with very few opportunities to chase personal results.

He signed a contract with Caja Rural and was looking forward to the chance of riding more for himself at the slightly lower professional continental level. However, his season was hampered by a crash in the Tro Bro Leon where he broke his collarbone and was sidelined until the middle of June.

He rode himself into form for the biggest race of the season for Caja Rural, the Vuelta a Espana, and earned his spot on the roster for the three-week race. However, his bad luck continued in the most brutal manner on stage 10 when he had another terrible crash.

Impressively, he fought his way all the way to the finish but when subsequent examinations revealed a fractured femur, he not only had to end the race. His career was now in danger and he has since done his best to make a full recovery.

Unfortunately, his progress has been hampered by several complications.

"During the first month, we saw that things were not going well and last week I had to return to the operating table," he told Euskal Telebista in a video interview.

This has made things harder than anticipated.

"[The recovery] is still hard, psychologically more than physically," he said. "I spent almost a month and a half without setting foot on the ground and in the first days, I was pretty bad. What interests me most is to geed back to a normal life because I have had trouble walking."

Velasco still doesn't know whether he will make a full recovery and be allowed to return to his profession. Earlier this week when Caja Rural finalized their roster, the Spanish team kept a spot free for Velasco though.

"I am very grateful (to the team, ed.) because I have always given the opportunity to continue if things go well," he said.

In his 7 years as a professional, Velasco hasn't won a race but he has started 8th grand tours and finished all three of the three-week races.