For the first time since he injured his thigh, Lars van der Haar has been back on the bike."It's going in the right direction," he told Wielerflits.

In the last few weeks, van der Haar has worked on his rehabilitation. 

"I'm on schedule, or at least it seems so," the Dutchman told the Dutch site. "It's going in the right direction, but there is no date for a return yet. The recovery is progressing as desired even though I would have preferred it to be faster of course. But I'm happy to be outside again. I still feel the injury so I can’t do too much. I do not stand up and not make explosive accelerations. The pain put limit on what I can do."

It is well-known that Van der Haar will not be in action in 2016. In 2017 he will be riding for Telenet Fidea Lions.

On Sunday afternoon, the Giant-Alpecin rider watched the race in Hamme-Zogge and explained why Mathieu van der Poel has won so much in recent weeks. 

"Mathieu is a better rider, much more complete. Technically he is better than, for example, Wout (Van Aert, ed.) who has is stronger when it comes to absolute power. But you cannot always use that in cyclo-crosss. It's that simple, really. Of course that does not mean that Wout is a great rider. On the heavier courses, it can be totally different. It can be very exciting again."