"It was the penultimate lap of a race on the Criterium track around Broadmeadow velodrome," Mr Dixon, 68, told the Newcastle Herald.

"I ended up landing on asphalt on my right shoulder at about 57 kilometres per hour. That broke lots of things and punctured my lung."

Director of Trauma Services at John Hunter Hospital, Professor Zsolt Balogh, was part of the team who treated Mr Dixon across 13 hours of surgery.

"He had about 6 or 7 rib fractures, smashed his shoulder blade and shattered his collarbone," Professor Balogh said.

"The whole right side of his chest was squashed in and about half the size of normal."

After two weeks in hospital and three months of "really intense" physiotherapy, Mr Dixon - who has only been racing since he was 65 - got straight back into competitions.

"The crash was in September 2020 and I got back on the bike on the second of January this year," he said.

"In February I went to Sydney to compete in the state track championships and I got a bronze medal in the two kilometre pursuit."

With plans for the future, Mr Dixon said "physically it feels like the crash never happened".

"The plan is to compete in the NSW state championships in March and then nationals in April."

Full of praise for the upward of 60 staff who treated him at John Hunter, Mr Dixon said the hospital is "up there with the best".

"What really impressed me was their professionalism, their kindness and their competence," he said.

"From nurses and surgeons to physiotherapists and nutritionist. They all know 'A' how to keep you alive, and 'B' how to fix you up."

Professor Balogh said Mr Dixon has "outperformed all his expectations" in recovery.

"It's amazing. This is what we dream about and this is why we are doing what we are doing," he said.

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