"My injuries are hardly bothering me anymore" - Dylan van Baarle almost back to full strength after Paris-Roubaix crash

After a horror crash brought about an end to Dylan van Baarle's defence of his Paris-Roubaix crown, the Jumbo-Visma is now almost back to full strength having had a long road to recovery.

“I have been able to make some good hours on the road. My injuries are hardly bothering me anymore, so it actually went super fast," van Baarle says on the podcast he has alongside fellow pro-rider and ex INEOS Grenadiers man, Wout Poels. "From the moment I was allowed to cycle again, it went super well. I'm still a little black and blue on my arm, but hopefully that will go away."

Van Baarle suffered some genuinely horrific injuries including a fracture in the hand, a fracture in the shoulder after his fall and multiple lacerations across his face. After being rushed to a French hospital following his crash, the Dutchman wasn't allowed back on his bike for the week following the incident. 

Now though, van Baarle is already casting an eye towards his next big adventure. The 30-year-old is currently at a Jumbo-Visma training camp in the Sierra Nevada with Tour de France preparation in mind. “It is a long undertaking that we are going to make with the Tour team,” he revealed. “Actually all riders who did the Tour last year are there, except for Primož Roglič. And Sepp Kuss will of course ride the Giro d'Italia. I've never been to the Sierra Nevada, so I'm curious.”