“I’m quite happy with the way it went, even if I didn’t expect to suffer so much,” explained the Belgian to the press, who gave up two kilometers from the finish on the final climb and finished 60th in the stage won in Voss by his compatriot Thibau Nys.
“I was already at the limit at the foot of the last climb. I felt in my lungs that it had been a long time since I had made such an effort. I’m not used to suffering so much in the peloton, but it’s like that at the moment,” added the 29-year-old Visma-Lease a bike rider.
It was the first racing outing for the Belgian cycling star since his terrible crash in Across Flanders on March 27 where he suffered fractures to his collarbone, sternum and seven ribs.
The accident caused him to miss his two big objectives at the start of the year, the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix, as well as the Giro.
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“I plan to be competitive for the Olympic Games”
On Wednesday, on the eve of the Tour of Norway, he said that he “still had after-effects from the fall”. “It’s not completely behind me yet. I can train, but often I still have pain afterwards, especially in my ribs,” he explained.
After the first of four stages in Norway, he confirmed on Thursday that he was “not afraid to spend three and a half hours in the saddle” given that he did such outings in training, but that he dreaded the following.
“I hope I recover well,” he said.
Van Aert, who is testing himself on this Tour of Norway, also declared on Wednesday that it was “much too early to comment” on a possible participation in the Tour de France (June 29–July 21) which was not to his liking. program initially, but which he could add to his schedule turned upside down by his fall.
“On the other hand, I intend to be competitive for the Olympic Games. But I will only go to Paris if I am at my best,” he added.
