"I couldn’t do anything about it twice" - Yves Lampaert's European Championship bid in danger having crashed twice within a week

Despite the high level of Belgium's time trialing school, the experienced Yves Lampaert will get one more opportunity to prove his worth at the European championships in his home country.

However the preparation of Soudal - Quick-Step rider was far from flawless. Due to two crashes in recent weeks, the 33-year-old's back is quite beat up. Still, the Belgian is confident that he'll have just enough time to recover for the 31.2 kilometers long chrono test. The team will allow him to test his legs prior to the Championships at the BEMER Cyclassics this Sunday.

"That caused some bruises and a blockage in my back," Lampaert returns to his recent poor luck in an interview with Het Laatste Nieuws. "I couldn’t do anything about it twice, but I’m still dealing with the consequences." The West Flemish is now on the mend, and so he is optimistic about his participation in the European Championship. "The abrasions are healing well and I can train again."

"I would really like to ride the European Championship. You don’t ride many championships in your career and this is in your own country, that is something special. The most important condition for me is that I can be healthy and fit at the start. And that looks better and better. I feel a lot better already and there are still eight days until the time trial. I am optimistic."

With Wout Van Aert and Remco Evenepoel unlikely to participate in the race against the clock, the Belgian national coach Sven Vanthourenhout is counting on two-time European time trial champion (2017 and 2018) Victor Campenaerts and Lampaert for the home event.