Antwan Tolhoek makes comeback to competition after knee injury: "It's going well, it's going well again"

A hard crash at the UAE Tour at the end of February ended the first part of Antwan Tolhoek's season before it had even started. As a result of that crash, the 29-year-old Trek-Segafredo climber developed tendinitis in his knee and had to watch others race for weeks. He recently talked with WielerFlits about the suffering, recovery and his plans for future.

"It's going well, it's going well again," he says with relief. “I am really happy that I was able to pack my bags again to race. After that fall in the first stage of the UAE Tour, my knee actually hurt a lot. Still I continued cycling, but after a few days it became clear that it was a bit worse than we initially thought. A few tendons in my knee were damaged and they became inflamed. And they turned out to be super bad to recover.”

"Next week will be a tough week for me. I know what level is needed to compete well in the Dauphiné and I know what my level is now. It's going to be very hard for me, hopefully it will make me better. After that we fortunately have a whole autumn in which I can race enough and show what I can do. Normally I will soon ride the Tour of Poland and the Vuelta a España.”

“Those are also my two big goals. There I really want to reach my high level again and shine”, he continues. That may also be necessary. Tolhoek came to Trek-Segafredo in 2022 with high expectations. His contract expires after this season. “That always plays a bit in the back of your mind. Only in the last few months have I been unable to influence that. Then there's not much point in worrying about it. I still love cycling and I know that I can cycle very fast. In any case, I feel at home here, because I am happy with the help of the team in recent months. I hope that I will also ride for Lidl-Trek next season.”