FDJ’s William Bonnet has told Rouleur.cc about just how good it feels to be back on his bike after a horror crash in stage three of the Tour de France that ended his season.

“It was special. Those sensations, taking the corners: it all comes back to you quickly,” he told the online journal.

Bonnet says that once he learned of the severity of his injuries after the crash, the 33 year old Frenchman immediately feared for his career.

“Yes, I asked myself the question because it was serious,” he says. “I also didn’t know how I was going to deal with the cervical injury; it was the surgeon who told me on December 1: ‘It’s okay, you can return to the road because we’ve seen that all is well strengthened and repaired.’”

He also revealed just how much his injuries hampered his ability to do everyday things like leaving his house and going for a walk.

“For two months, I couldn’t leave my house. I couldn’t drive, I went to my medical appointments in an ambulance, lying down. I even had a month where I could be a car passenger and my partner ferried me around,” he said. “So for three months, I did nothing. I just had a home trainer in the garage. I could walk about, but not a lot.”

The rider admits that he is sure the crash will have changed him, not just as a rider, but as a person too.

“This crash will change me as a rider, that’s for sure. I won’t be the same kind of rider; I won’t be doing the same races at the start of the year. It changes me too because I know I was lucky.”