Just five minutes is what Visma-Lease a Bike allowed host Sander Kleikers to question Wout van Aert on stage at their team presentation on Tuesday, before the Belgian star went to sit back down with his fractured anklenow wrapped up in a boot after surgery, propped up on a small stand and cushion.
But even as he hobbled back to his seat, the optimism from the team surrounding Van Aert’s recovery was evident, with teammate Matteo Jorgenson quipping, “He’s being dramatic, he looked pretty good on the bike today.”
Clarifying further, Van Aert detailed how if he were in any other sport, probably other than cycling, the situation wouldn’t be quite so positive, and how, despite the overall confidence, it’s no guarantee that he will arrive at his biggest appointments in the spring at 100%.
“No, I’m not fully confident. Of course not, it’s a complicated injury, with the fracture and also the ripped off ligaments. So if I was a runner or anything else, I would be out for months, but hopefully, as a cyclist, it will be good enough,” said Van Aert, who will be looking to up his intensity as pain subsides in his foot.
“Once I’m on the bike, it’s pretty OK. I cannot do really high intensity, but once my foot is locked in my cycling shoe, I can pedal quite well. Normal life is more complicated because walking affects me quite a bit.
“Let’s say the fracture is locked with the screw, and then the ligaments, they need recovery. But actually, I cannot do much more than keep my foot in a safe position, so from the moment I don’t feel the pain anymore, I’m allowed to build intensity. So it will be a day-to-day analysis for when we can do more and more.”
For someone who’s had as many setbacks in recent years as Van Aert, it’s no surprise that he’s been as mentally resilient as he has shown, but the benefit of being able to pedal so early after the injury and maintain his fitness to an extent has been a big bonus.
Even for the biggest stars like Remco Evenepoel and Van Aert’s teammate Vingegaard, long periods out injured – like for any sportsperson – can ruin motivation entirely. In this case, that’s been avoided.
“Mentally, it was pretty shit, because I was still also improving in my cyclo-cross season, I think, and looking forward to the races that were still coming,” added the Belgian. So, that was not fun to be sidelined immediately.
“But then, what helped me was that I could, more or less quickly, be on the bike again or on the rollers, so it was not too much time of really lying down and being inactive. For athletes, that always helps to deal with injury, and just the fact that I’m not losing too much fitness until this point.”
With this optimism in mind, Van Aert has opted for a change to his approach to the Tour of Flanders and the race he still dreams most about winning – Paris Roubaix – with Strade Bianche and Milan-San Remo – two headline events he has won previously – returning to the picture.
So with Omloop, Flanders and Roubaix also to aim at, Van Aert will be hoping for a big Classics scalp and trying to bring Visma the Monument they desperately want. He’ll also race at Tirreno-Adriatico between the Italian one-day races, before his summer is fully focused on the Tour de France and Vuelta a España.
He might not be winning at the frequency he was at the start of the 2020s, but Van Aert has no doubt that his place among the top riders in the world remains, with his Giro stage win in Siena and iconic Tour stage victory into Paris reminding him of that.
“I think last season I was not as consistent as I wanted, so these big moments really helped me to believe, even if not, everything is going well – like, for example, now – I’m still one of the best bike riders in the world, and there will follow moments where I can show it off.”
