Tom Steels reed ooit de Tour uit met een zitvlakblessure en predikt nu vooral geduld rond de blessure van Remco Evenepoel. "Zitvlakblessures zijn onderschat bij de renners. Je hebt tijd nodig om het te laten genezen", weet de ploegleider van Deceuninck-Quick Step. "Vervelend, maar wel van...
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Few worries for the team: "Top talent like Remco Evenepoel has room to absorb an injury"
Tom Steels once finished the Tour with a buttock injury and now mainly preaches patience around the injury of Remco Evenepoel. "Seat injuries are underestimated for the riders. You need time to let it heal," says the Deceuninck-Quick Step sports director. "Annoying, but transient."
Remco Evenepoel surprised yesterday with the announcement that he has not been on the bike for a while, because he still had pain when he was on the saddle. Tom Steels had a similar injury during his racing career.
"Every injury is different, but I have indeed had an inflammation on my buttocks in a fairly identical place", says the former sprinter. "Of course I finished the Tour with it and that was not good."
"The difference with Remco is that he can now take it easier, so you cannot compare the injuries in that area. It was the time to slow down and start the recovery process."
And Steels especially preaches patience. "You have to give that time, because butt injuries are underestimated for most riders. It's not a drama, but you have to let it heal. You do need patience."
Evenepoel had the pain during training for a while, because he thought that was part of the recovery. "The recognition of an injury is not as easy as a rider", Steels said. "If you have already had experience with an injury to a certain body part, it is easier."
"Once you recognize the injury, you can also give better information to the doctors. But the most important thing is that once it has healed, it will also be a thing of the past. After the healing, that buttock injury never came back to the same place. I did there. in principle never again bothered. "
"This is annoying for Remco, but transient"
An injury is always inconvenient for a rider, but Steels sees no insurmountable problems. "I think it is not that bad in itself. The most annoying thing is that you are now in a group that is fully building up and you are out", says the sports director.
"On the other hand, the structure of Remco has just shifted, purely physically and in terms of preparation that doesn't make much difference. It's just difficult to be patient while you want to work hard to build up your fitness. That's annoying, but of passing nature."
Evenepoel's major goals, the Giro and the Olympic Games, still seem a long way off. "You must not forget that Remco is a top talent. It does not happen automatically for him, he also has to work hard for it. But talents have a little more room to absorb something that another rider cannot absorb."
"Sometimes it is what it is and you have to take a rest, you should not force certain things. There is no problem in terms of his program. There is certainly still time for the Giro (start on May 8)", Steels said. hopeful. "I can't judge how long it will take, that's for the medical staff."