![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/xVan-Aert-Wout-Kristof-Ramon-1200x800.jpg.pagespeed.ic.tdgXWOCJd5.jpg\")
Wout van Aert is back at it, despite his broken ankle sustained just over two weeks ago, and is aiming for an \u2018Opening Weekend\u2019 start to the season (Photo: Kristof Ramon)<\/p>\nWout van Aert is back at it, despite his broken ankle sustained just over two weeks ago, and is aiming for an \u2018Opening Weekend\u2019 start to the season (Photo: Kristof Ramon)<\/p>\n
Wout van Aert has already done a six-hour training session and was back on the home trainer three days after he has surgery for the ankle fracture he sustained on January 2nd, according to his Visma Lease a Bike team manager.<\/p>\n
The Belgian rider came down in a heavy cyclocross crash in Mol, in snowy conditions, on January 2nd. And though some medical experts predicted a long recovery and rehabilitation, team manager Jan Boven said he pedalled on the home trainer after three days and trained on it after nine days.<\/p>\n
\u201cI texted Wout a few times and called him, but we knew what had to happen from Mol onward,\u201d Boven told WielerFlits, the Dutch cycling site.<\/p>\n
He added while Van Aert then had to abandon plans for any more cyclocross races, he was OK with missing the Zonhoven World Cup but much more annoyed at being unable to\u00a0 but having to forego the Belgian Championships was much more difficult for him.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou just don\u2019t have a choice, and he was back on the bike fairly quickly,\u201d Boven said of Van Aert missing the remainder of the \u2018cross season. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely faster than expected, because he was back on the bike just three days after his surgery.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe expected him to be able to train a bit on the rollers again after a week, but he\u2019s already done another six-hour training session in Spain. I spoke with him at length yesterday, and he\u2019s feeling great.\u201d<\/p>\n
Boven also seemed to suggested Van Aert would still look to start his season on \u2018Opening Weekend\u2019 in Belgium, at Omloop het Nieuwsblad, on Saturday, February 28th, with a view to other, bigger goals in the spring.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt also helps that his inactivity didn\u2019t last long,\u201d Boven said of the Belgian\u2019s post-crash period. \u201cHe\u2019s barely fallen behind and he can definitely look forward to the spring classics.\u201d<\/p>\n
The fact Van Aert and his team are still aiming for a racing returned at the start of the European season is very surprising.<\/p>\n
\u00a0Some medical experts, with experience of treating other cyclists for similar injuries, suggested he was in a race against time to even be on the start line for Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix on April 5th and 12th respectively.<\/p>\n
After the crash, Van Aert\u2019s team confirmed he \u201csprained his ankle and sustained a small fracture\u201d, adding he would undergo surgery \u201cafter which he will focus on his recovery\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course I am very disappointed to have to end my cyclocross season like this,\u201d Van Aert said in a statement issued by his team at the time. \u201cI was feeling better and better, including today in Mol.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was really looking forward to the race in Zonhoven and the Belgian Championships. But my focus will now be on recovery and, later on, the preparation of the road season.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wout van Aert is back at it, despite his broken ankle sustained just over two weeks ago, and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":421953,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[569],"tags":[64,63,784,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-421952","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=421952"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/421952\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/421953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=421952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=421952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=421952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}