Jonas Vingegaard's recovery inspired Ellen van Dijk for Olympic Games: "I certainly got inspiration from that"

Ellen van Dijk had a very busy past year and a half, giving birth to her first child but having constant the goal of performing at the Paris Olympic Games. Not everything was on the right track; the Dutch time-trialist did return to competition extremely fast and successfully this year but an ankle fracture proved to be a bigger obstacle to overcome on her build-up towards today's big goal.

“I think that in my career I have been pretty well trained in the fact that there is actually no perfect way, but this is the ultimate example. It never really hurt after the operation, but yes, if it really gets swollen or blue, then you have to pay close attention of course," van Dijk told Wielerflits. "That was sometimes very briefly after training. If it goes away within an hour, then it is fine.”

Van Dijk won two time-trials earlier this year and also finished sixth at Paris-Roubaix Femmes. But in early June she suffered a crash and fractured an ankle that put the Olympics at risk. “I thought: I'm just going to do everything I can to go there. And if that's not enough, then I can't blame myself. I didn't make any concessions during my recovery either. A physiotherapist came to my home every day. I did everything I could all the time. I received good medical support. Sometimes I went back and forth to the hospital in Amsterdam three times a week to check everything. Yes, it was at the limit.”

She takes to the start today as one of the big favourites but with form being a relative question; she has not raced since as well, but provides insight into her preparation. “So I had four weeks until the time trial to work on my recovery and train. After week two, a performance test was scheduled. The agreement with the KNWU (the national team, ed.) was that I had to be at my level by then. That you participate to really participate. And not to be there as a bit of a joke. Of course I don't want that myself. I'm not here to finish fifteenth. That's not the goal, of course."

Building up form whilst doing rehab on the ankle certainly proved to be a challenge, but she says she found a lot of motivation in Jonas Vingegaard and the performances he put on the Tour de France despite the horrific injuries suffered in April. "I was working on my recovery at home on the exercise bike and then I saw him on television in the mountains. I certainly got inspiration from that. In his rehabilitation I recognized steps, which I was also taking. But also his doubts. One moment you think it's possible, the next you don't believe in it anymore. Yet his path to the Tour also convinced me that I was on the right track".

She admits however that her initial ambitions faded along the way, despite still having a good level, because of this injuriy: "In ideal circumstances I would have gone for gold here. I've put that out of my mind a bit. Maybe that's also a bit of self-protection because of the situation with my ankle. Although it doesn't matter much what I've put in my mind. I just have to cycle really hard. If I win a medal here, that would be bizarre in my opinion. But who knows? Maybe it's just possible."

"Today is the day! I prepared for so long to be ready for this day and just 7 weeks ago I thought it was all over," van Dijk wrote in a social media post this morning. "But with incredible support I managed to get to the start line. Let's see what happens from here. I am going to give it everything I have!"