Australian cyclist Sarah Gigante is preparing for one of the biggest moments of her comeback after returning to professional racing following a 403-day absence caused by a serious femur injury.

The 25-year-old was selected to lead Australia's four-rider women's team at the UCI Road World Championships in Montréal, Canada. The elite women's road race is scheduled to cover 180.4 kilometres, making it the longest women's road race in world championship history. The course includes eight laps of the Mont Royal circuit and around 2,502 metres of elevation gain.

Gigante's return comes after a difficult period away from competitive cycling. She had been out of the professional peloton since the 2025 Tour de France Femmes after breaking her femur during a training ride.

The initial recovery proved particularly challenging. Surgery was required to repair the fracture, but a pin used during the procedure was later found to have been incorrectly positioned and had to be removed during a second operation. Gigante said the experience became one of the most frustrating injuries of her career because the pain continued for months and delayed her return to competition.

The latest injury followed earlier health and medical setbacks in Gigante's career. She previously spent time away from cycling while recovering from myopericarditis in 2021 and later underwent surgery for iliac artery endofibrosis in 2024. Despite those setbacks, she returned to racing and produced some of the strongest results of her career during 2025.

Her 2025 season included a third-place finish at the Giro d'Italia Women, where she won two stages and the Queen of the Mountains classification. She also finished sixth overall at the Tour de France Femmes before the training crash that forced her latest extended absence.

Gigante returned to competition earlier this year at the Faun Tour Femmes. The comeback race also highlighted the physical risks of professional cycling, with several riders suffering serious injuries during crashes across the event.

Now back on the international stage, Gigante will compete alongside Georgia Baker, Lauretta Hanson and Amanda Spratt in Australia's four-member world championship team. Spratt is also set to make her 13th and final appearance at the road world championships for Australia.

Gigante acknowledged that she is not yet at the same level of form she reached before her latest injury, but the open nature of the Montréal course gives Australia's riders an opportunity to compete against the leading nations.

The Australian team will face a strong international field that includes riders from the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Britain, New Zealand, Poland and Switzerland. The race is expected to place a major emphasis on climbing strength because of the repeated ascent of the Mont Royal circuit.

For Gigante, however, simply returning to the world championship start line represents an important stage in her comeback. After more than a year away from professional racing, she now has the opportunity to compete for Australia again on one of cycling's biggest stages.