Wellens back in action after injury

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Bart Wellens (Fidea-Telenet) will be return to racing this weekend after two weeks away due to a back injury, competing in the Bpost Bank Trophy race in Hasselt on Saturday and then the Superprestige race in Asper-Gavere on Sunday.

The 35 year-old Belgian is keen to return to racing and to secure a place in the Belgian team for the Koksijde round of the World Cup on November 23.

"I have pain in my back, I'm certainly not 100%, but it is better than expected," Wellens said on the Telenet-Fidea website.

"On Wednesday I rode with with Quinten Hermans and Daan Soete, doing heavy work in the field and that went smoothly. We did some serious interval training and I easily finished that.”

Wellens has been mixing cyclo-cross training with physiotherapy and a long ride from his home to Ostend on the Belgian coast but refused to be drawn on what he achieve in his comeback races.

"It remains to be seen and I don’t want to say what my real ambitions are,” he said.

“I’ll evaluate things on Saturday. I will certainly fight to do well because I realize that my selection for the World Cup is not certain. There are a few young riders knocking at the door but I want to be in the team. I'm going to do everything to be in Koksijde.”

Fidea-Telenet team leader Tom Meeusen is also fit for the weekend of racing after damaging his ankle last week. He will race with a special ankle brace.

"It’s one that they use in volleyball. I want some extra support, because I don’t want to hurt it again,” Meeusen said.

"I hope to shine in the races. I prefer to do well Hasselt but I won’t hold back in Asper-Gavere either. They’re predicting a dry weekend which suits me better.”