"I'm not done with performing, I still want to perform" - Michael Valgren returns to Classics, 18 months after his major injury

The road to this year's Omloop Het Nieuwsblad was not a straightforward one for the race's former champion Michael Valgren. After a major injury in 2022, the Dane had to build from zero again, but he managed and now he's back, talking to Cyclingnews about what it means for the 32-year-old to return to the professional peloton.

"I'm super happy and grateful to be back here, super glad to be in a World Tour race and to be going to the big races this year. I feel like I belong here, so for sure it's a bonus, but I'm not, let's say, done with performing, I still want to perform."

But the big goal and test in February, Valgren said, will come at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. "Obviously I have good memories of that, it was my first big win in a one-day race so I look forward to being back there," he said. "The last time was in 2022, so obviously, it’s been a while for me to get back to the cobbles, but I love these races. I feel great, and I think I can be up there in the final in Nieuwsblad, so that’s my ambition and my hope."

"I think it is possible to do well in both. When I won Omloop in 2018, I was also fourth in Flanders, so that could easily have been a win, then I went on to Amstel and I won there, too," he said. "So I think a lot depends more on where your head is. If you feel tired after Omloop, it’s a bad sign, but if you feel fresh and good inside yourself, you can ride and perform in the whole Classics season."