Any doubts about Wout van Aert's participation in the Tour de France have been put to rest after the Jumbo-Visma rider announced he has been riding without any of the knee pain that kept him from racing the Belgian National Championships last week.
"Back on the bike since Saturday, after four days of forced rest," Van Aert wrote as a comment on a 38.6-kilometre ride posted to Strava. "I started with short and double sessions but yesterday I could do a longer endurance ride without pain."
Van Aert skipped defending his Belgian time trial title last week "because it just didn't fit the schedule" and then announced he had hit his knee on his handlebars during his pre-Tour de France training camp and would not be racing the Belgian road race championship due to "minor irritation".
"It looks like I slowed down on the right moment," Van Aert said of his brief break. "The irritation on top of my kneecap disappeared and I can pedal again with full force."
Van Aert said he is "ready" for his fourth Tour de France where he hopes to target the green points classification jersey as well as supporting Jumbo-Visma's overall contenders Primož Roglič and Jonas Vingegaard.
The Tour de France begins on Friday with a time trial in Copenhagen. For all of the information about the 2022 Tour de France including stage previews, the provisional start list, features, news and more see our Tour de France hub.
