Wout van Aert back on drop bars as he says he’s 'almost professional again' in Strava post

Wout van Aert is well on the road back to fitness after his recent high speed crash at Dwars door Vlaanderen. The Belgian completed his longest ride since the crash on Tuesday, riding nearly 94 kilometres near his home in Herentals, Belgium. 

Van Aert shared details on Strava of just how far he had come since his first shower after surgery 12 days ago. The 29-year-old shared full details of the ride, captioned "almost professional again", which he he rode a Cervélo Áspero-5 gravel bike. 

Visma-Lease a Bike shared a video on social media of him out on the ride.  "It's been almost four weeks and I’m happy to be back riding outside," he said. 

Van Aert’s initial recovery began indoors before he was first back outside on a more upright mountain bike last week. Before he climbed back onto his bike, he also briefly took to walking in the early stages.

His injuries sustained in the crash meant he was forced out of both the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, two major goals for his season. 

"If you want to have a tasty ice cream, you need to turn right here," Van Aert added as he pointed viewers to a local ice cream parlour. 

The Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix were not the only goals Van Aert has been forced to sacrifice due to injury. Visma-Lease a Bike also announced that Van Aert would be unable to ride the Giro d’Italia in May. 

At the time of the announcement, just two weeks ago, Van Aert said he was unable to ride his bike or train whatsoever at that point. 

"I’m trying to do my first pedal strokes on the bike, but not enough to be able to train," he said. "That is why we made the decision to not start in the Giro d’Italia."

Van Aert’s calendar for the rest of the season is currently unknown, but is likely to still be tailored towards the road race and time trial at the Paris Olympics. 

Visma-Lease a Bike’s squads for both the Giro and Tour de France have taken a hit in recent weeks after Jonas Vingegaard’s horrendous crash at Itzulia Basque Country which left him with a horrific list of injuries, including a collapsed lung. 

The Danish two-time Tour champion left hospital last week in Spain ready to begin his own rehabilitation programme in due course. 

It is not yet known whether Vingegaard will be able to recover in time to return to the Tour.