PROFESSIONALS | 05/23/2024 | 08:20
by Francesca Monzone
Wout van Aert is ready to race again and will be at the start of the Tour of Norway today, the short stage race that will end on May 26th. The Flemish is happy to be back in the group, but the recovery after the March accident has not yet been completed. «It’s a great feeling to be able to race again – said Van Aert in his meeting with the press – Unfortunately I still have some pain despite all the training I’ve done. My body still hasn’t forgotten about all the injuries and I still have problems».
Van Aert had fallen on March 27 in Across Flanders, suffering a fracture of the sternum, ribs and a collarbone. «What are my ambitions? I actually have very few ambitions. I don’t even think, in terms of performance, of achieving any success. Now I don’t want to think about this, but I’m happy to be able to race again and to still be in the group. I just hope I don’t have too many problems during the race due to some pain that could resurface.”
It’s difficult to say now what Van Aert is aiming for. The Flemish had to give up the spring races and also the Giro d’Italia, perhaps he could look at the Tour de France, but he must always understand how his body will react to the effort of the races.
«Of course I can’t look too far ahead. For the Tour first let’s see how I will feel on the bike. With regard to the Olympics, we know they will happen in another two months. I assume that by then I will be back to one hundred percent.”
For the Belgian these months have not been easy, not only for the first period of immobility due to the fracture of the sternum and seven ribs, but also for the rehabilitation, which required a lot of commitment on both a physical and psychological level.
«It wasn’t always easy having to stay on the sidelines, but fortunately now I can look forward again. I know my recovery took a very long time but I’m in Norway now.”
The Visma-Lease a Bike rider is positive and for the moment wants to understand how his body will react. «It took me a long time before I could get back to training properly again. Only in the last two weeks have I been able to do it again. Now I can train well, but I still have some pain afterwards. It’s not all healed yet the main problem is the ribs. There were seven rib fractures and they put a lot of strain on my muscles. I have some discomfort when I’m on the bike for a long time, my back hurts and this is annoying. I don’t even want to dramatize it, because otherwise I wouldn’t be here riding. The cut on my back also bothered me a lot in the first ten days, so I spent a lot of energy recovering from it. Now I want to think about this race, which for me is perfect, because it’s not too long but the route is challenging. Above all, I want to see how it goes and so only after the Tour of Norway will we see what my next races will be. I hope I can return home with confidence and then compete again in the big summer races to win.”
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