After fracturing his cervical vertebrae in the horror crash on stage three of the Tour de France, FDJ veteran William Bonnet has returned to training.

"For my first day back, I rode for two hours, about 75 km," Bonnet told L'Equipe from the FDJ training camp in Calpe yesterday. "I went with a group and I turned around after an hour and a half. I returned with Sébastien Joly, one of the coaches. It had been raining and the road was wet. So I paid attention. I can say that I was careful in the turns and descents. I left a safe distance."

Bonnet was pain-free during the ride thanks to lots of hours of physiotherapy to build up the strength once more in his neck muscles.

"The surgeon was happy with the healing," Bonnet said. "He said that for him everything was OK, there was no need for further action and that it was up to me to see if I wanted to race again, provided I'm ready psychologically."

Bonnet has not decided when he will return to racing and Marc Madiot, FDJ manager, has given the Frenchman, 33, all the time he needs to recover fully.