Two months after his terrible crash in Dwars door Vlaanderen, Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease A Bike) returned to racing at the Tour of Norway last week, and after placing third on the final stage on Sunday, the Belgian said that he was pleased with his comeback performance.
Van Aert’s crash left him with a broken sternum, broken collarbone and several broken ribs, and facing a lengthy recovery period before making his return in the four-day 2.HC race in Scandinavia.
After an uneven start, losing time on the first stage and then sitting up on the second in the hilly finale, the Belgian notably improved on the last two stages results-wise. He placed fourth on Saturday’s bunch sprint and then third in another mass dash for the line behind Alexander Kristoff (Uno-X Mobility) and Jordi Meeus (Bora-Hansgrohe) that concluded lumpy final day’s racing in the coastal city of Stavanger.
Overall, the race was won by Axel Laurance (Alpecin-Deceunink) ahead of Van Aert’s teammate Bart Lemmen.
Van Aert said he had been boxed in for the final sprint, but in terms of the bigger picture, he did not hide his satisfaction with how his return to racing had gone.
“The most important thing is that I didn’t feel any pain,” Van Aert told Het Laatste Nieuws after the final stage. “It was a good test for me.
"I really believed in myself today, but I was boxed in 300 meters from the finish. That meant I couldn't sprint at full speed. But that was my own fault."
Overall, though, “My confidence has grown. I wanted to test myself and I’m happy that I succeeded.”
“A lot of uncertainty has gone. I felt myself getting better and that was what I hoped for.”
Van Aert would not be drawn on what his plans are from hereon, although having missed the Giro d'Italia because of his crash, Visma-Lease A Bike have not ruled out a participation in the Tour de France. The Olympic Games are also potentially on his target list.
"It has been a positive week and certainly one that we will evaluate to see what lies ahead,” Van Aert said, before adding with a grin - “ But I'm not going to do that in front of a TV camera.”
