Gert Steegmans and Tomas Vaitkus will race in the opening weekend’s races of the Belgian cycling season. Their participation was questionable after crashes in the third and first stages of last week’s Tour of Algarve.
Gert Steegmans suffered a concussion after landing on his head in stage three. After three days rest he did a 50 kilometer training ride on Tuesday, followed by a 6 hour training ride on Wednesday. He could finish both rides without experiencing a headache.
“Since Monday I have had no headaches. The nausea has disappeared too,” said Steegmans. “The doctors advised me to wait an extra day and to stay in the dark to take no risks. Though – as everyone joked – I could not have a concussion because of a lack of brains in my head! The two training rides have convinced me that I am able to play a role in both weekend races. My good condition cannot be completely gone. The only thing that worries me a bit is the stiffness in my neck and upper leg but that is not the end of the world. I can deal with it.”
Tomas Vaitkus, who crashed on his shoulder, kept his shoulder immobilized for a few days. Though his shoulder injury still causes some pain, Vaitkus will take the risk to start.
“In Russia there is a saying: ‘One who doesn’t take a risk, will not drink champagne’. So I will start,” Vaitkus commented. “In the past two-to-three days I have less pain, but it is still present. On the other hand, I was able to ride 180 kilometers today on the bike. I am confident of a better 2010 than 2009, certainly with less crashes anyway.”
In last year’s Omloop Het Nieuwsblad Vaitkus was on his way to a top-5 placing when he could not escape the crash of another rider in the final sprint and broke a bone in his right elbow.
The Team line-up for the next races:
Omloop Het Nieuwsblad (Bel), 27/02/2010
Riders: Fumiyuki Beppu, Sam Bewley, Daryl Impey, Gregory Rast, Sébastien Rosseler, Bjorn Selander, Gert Steegmans & Tomas Vaitkus
Director: Dirk Demol
Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne (Bel), 28/02/2010
Riders: Fumiyuki Beppu, Sam Bewley, Daryl Impey, Gregory Rast, Sébastien Rosseler, Bjorn Selander, Gert Steegmans & Tomas Vaitkus
Director: Dirk Demol