In the last straight line of the fifth Tour stage to Marseille the podium dream of Jurgen Van den Broeck for 2013 was crushed. But more than 2,5 months and a first part of the recovery process later doctors, physiotherapists and Van den Broeck himself are very hopeful to start 2014 as an ambitious rider.

Two days after the crash Van den Broeck visited doctor Toon Claes at the hospital in Herentals. The diagnosis wasn’t minor: A partial crack of the posterior cruciate ligament, a partial crack of the medial ligament, an injury of the cartilage, a bone bruise and a bruise of the patella tendon was concluded. Apart from that also blood was drawn two times out of the knee.

The doctor had his fears after the surgery. It didn’t look too good, but after weeks of training and hard work, Toon Claes is sure that Jurgen Van den Broeck will come back and ride again.

“Today I dare say that everything will be okay, where immediately after the surgery I had some doubt. What Jurgen had can definitely be classified as a ‘severe injury’. At the latest checkup on Monday I could determine after clinical tests that the evolution is positive and a scan confirmed it. During his recovery Jurgen has, far away from the bike, got the chance to strengthen his body entirely. At the moment he’s even a little bit ahead of schedule. Half October he goes on a holiday, then there will be a new test, presumably after that he’ll get the all-clear to start the specific bike trainings in function of the training build-up towards the start of the season. Another six weeks later we’ll be better able to say what might be his first goals of the season,” he said.

Toon Claes operated Van den Broeck on the 10th of July and after the surgery VDB couldn’t lean on his joint for three weeks. 19 days after the surgery, he started recover at Move to Cure, with physiotherapist Lieven Maesschalck.

“Each patient gets a specific approach, but of course we go further with top sportsmen and sportswomen. I dare to say: Jurgen Van den Broeck will be back. Bike training is part of the recovery process, but isn’t the most important. Also the disciplined way, the mentality he comes with each day is a real model. In some months he will start the training which combined with some exercises will make him ready to compete again,” Maesschalck said.

Van den Broeck himself is longing for the bike. “Nothing is more pleasant than racing yourself,” he says. But he knows there is a long way to go. Van den Broeck’s first trip was to the local baker.

“You can’t imagine how much I enjoyed those short trips. Then you realize how much you love cycling. I feel good, although I’d feel better if I actually could race. The doctor is optimistic, the recovery goes well and I hope to perform as good as possible for my team in 2014,” VDB said.

“The evening just after the crash you have hoped that you can start the day after, but when you can’t sleep at night because of the pain and in the morning you can’t get to the breakfast table, then you know. When team doctor Jan Mathieu drew fluid out of the knee and that actually was all blood, we knew it was a serious internal injury and that starting would be impossible. What If I’d ride as close to the sprinters I can next time? Look at the results of Evans and Froome. Each day they finished between place 15 and 30, just like most of the other top five candidates. If I sit further and there falls a gap and I lose 20 seconds that way, I could forget a good GC like in Catalunya, everybody would say I should race more attentively. Maybe the solution in flat stages is a time registration at five kilometers from the finish line; that way you split the interests of the sprinters and GC riders, but on the other hand it is the risks of the job.”

“The first period after my operation really wasn’t fun. The swelling of the knee was so huge that only lying on the couch was an option. Sometimes I thought about setting my mind on something else, but after for example fifteen minutes on a terrace I realized I had to go and lie down again.  The frustration I did have two years ago when I also crashed, wasn’t as big this time as last time. I switched my thoughts pretty fast. I never really worried if I could come back at my level, but I did often think about how much I would suffer, how the recovery would go and how long it would last,” he said

“The next weeks I’ll continue my rehabilitation with Lieven Maesschalck. I tried to ride for 3-4 hours, but together with the many hours of rehabilitation that was just too much. After consulting all involved, we decided to reduce the amount of hours on the bike a bit. I was doing my rehabilitation each day from 7:00 until 19:00, and that couldn’t go on. In the middle of October I’ll go on a holiday. After that I will start my build-up training. In big lines my program will stay the same, although there’s the chance that after a few years absence I’ll ride Paris – Nice or Tirreno – Adriatico again. The first part of the season I will aim for a good result in the WorldTour stage races. After a week of rest I’ll then start my preparation for the Tour. That’s why the criticism about the fact that my season is too much focused on the Tour isn’t correct,” Van den Broeck said.