Wout van Aert before his return to competition at the Tour of Norway: “I still have pain after training”

Before hanging up a bib again, the leader of the Visma | Lease a Bike, who will be accompanied this week by Per Strand Hagenes, Koen Bouwman, Tijmen Graat, Menno Huising and Bart Lemmen, returned to his rehabilitation. Between throbbing pain, extreme fatigue and difficulty sleeping, the one who had to wait… 12 days to be able to take a shower again after his fall (even the water made him scream with pain…), van Aert did not avoid any detail. Because he knows better than anyone: accepting the past is the best way to focus on the present and, above all, the future.

Wout, the first question is as simple as it is essential: how are you?

”I feel good, thank you. I’m happy to be in Norway and to be able to run again. I’ve been away from the peloton for a long time so it’s a great feeling to feel like a cyclist again.”

Have you been training normally in recent weeks? During your internship in Girona, in particular.

”I was able to train well, yes, but I often have evenings that are a little more complicated, with pain. So my fall is not quite behind me yet. I am mainly still suffering from my broken ribs. And when I cycle for several hours, my back hurts after the ride. But these are normal pains, because we could hardly do anything about these fractures, which were supposed to resolve on their own. But I don’t want to dramatize: overall, I can ride a bike without pain. After the effort, it’s a little more complicated. But I had the conformation that the healing was well underway.”

The first images of Wout van Aert in training since his terrible fall (VIDEO)

But it is not yet finished….

”No, but we are nearing the end. I underestimated my injuries a little myself and it took a little longer than expected. I haven’t yet become a high-level athlete again, but it will come back.”

What do you remember about your terrible fall?

”I remember everything that happened perfectly. On the descent to the Kanarieberg, I suddenly lost my handlebars and found myself lying on the ground. It was not a pilot error or a reflex. It happened all of a sudden, beyond my control. Once on the ground, the feeling was very uncomfortable. I saw a wall on the side of the road and tried to go and sit there to collect my composure. But when I tried to move, I felt something was wrong. It really hurt, until I was given medicine at the hospital.”

Behind the scenes of Wout van Aert’s fall: “The first half hour that followed was terrible”

If it was painful physically, how painful was it mentally.

”That wasn’t fun, as you can imagine. At first it wasn’t too bad. But ten days after the fall, there was Paris-Roubaix. And that was very difficult. I was still on painkillers and realized I was still a long way from running again. This led to a more difficult period.”

And the Giro, which was also a big goal, did you know how to watch it?

”It was complicated to see all the bad luck that the team experienced. Especially since we feel helpless when we are on the sidelines. I had a lot of fun seeing Olav (Kooij) win a stage despite the bad luck that befell our team. And Cian (Uijtdebroeks) performed well too, before falling ill. In the end, nothing really went as planned, so I watched the race with very mixed feelings.”

How excited are you to get back to competing?

“I am very impatient. I feel like I’m coming out of a winter break. Everything was going well in terms of condition until Travers la Flanders, then my form quickly deteriorated as I couldn’t do anything. I hoped to be able to limit this loss of condition but it is not easy. When I started training again, I noticed that there wasn’t much left of my good feelings from before the fall…”

With what ambition are you starting this hilly Tour of Norway?

”I have very little performance-oriented ambition. I would like to tell you that I come here to win all four stages but that is not the reality. I’m just happy to be back in a peloton, and I hope everything goes well. I hope to be able to ride four days in a row. My goal is to be able to go home at the end of the week feeling confident and pain-free. Or at least not more than last week. My biggest fear is that things will get worse. But I prefer not to think about it.”

Why did you choose this race to return to competition?

”Because I wanted to take part in a race as soon as possible. We could have chosen to continue doing preparation courses and training but as I don’t have many racing days yet this year (11), we opted for a fairly quick resumption of the race. And the Tour of Norway is a great race, with stages that are not too long but difficult.”

And what about the rest of your program?

“I do not know yet. It is only after Norway that we will discuss together the next races in which I will take part. I hope to be able to give my all in the biggest races this summer.”

So we could see you on the Tour de France?

”It’s still too early to tell you anything about this.”

Wout van Aert withdraws from the Giro, “the Tour de France is not essential”

And the Olympic Games, does that remain your major goal for the year?

”The time trial takes place in two months and for the moment, I don’t really have any doubts about my ability to be in good shape in two months. I will work as hard as possible to be in good condition for the Games. But one thing is certain: I will only go to Paris if I am in great shape.”