📸 One week after crash, van der Poel is back training on the road in Spain — without a brace

Van der Poel was understandably in shock. After his crash, the diagnosis was severe: he had suffered a 'fracture of the scaphoid bone,' which meant that his wrist was severely damaged. His team could not say anything about a possible return to racing, whether on the road or a mountain bike. Later, the rider provided an update: he was already back on the rollers with a brace. "I'm looking forward to riding on the mountain bike terrain again soon," he said.

The workout on the exercise bike clearly went well because Van der Poel has since traveled to Spain. There, he was spotted by a fan on the road. No more rollers, then, but just a training ride around his familiar base in Calpe. He wasn't alone, as he completed the lap with Danny van Poppel and his teammate at Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, Jordi Meeus. Remarkably, although he wore a brace during indoor training, it is no longer there in Spain.

His recovery is going very well. The team doubted his participation in the Critérium du Dauphiné, which would generally be on his schedule. But judging by the images, there seems to be no problem for the former world champion. The Dutchman sets his sights on the Tour de France, where he wants to shine in the first week. After La Grande Boucle, he will focus on the World Championships mountain biking.