"Step by step I am riding more" - Tiesj Benoot overcoming serious neck injury and confident ahead of 2023

Tiesj Benoot crashed back in August whilst training with Wout van Aert close to Livigno, an accident caused by a vehicle which has left Benoot with a fracture in the neck, and several weeks off the bike. 

In an interview with Sporza, Benoot talked about his injury: “In the beginning I already had neck pain after an hour of cycling. I have only been able to cycle a little longer since this week." The injury has kept him off the bike for a while, and two and a half months later the Belgian is still trying to recover his ability to train.

With the off-season now ahead the Jumbo-Visma rider is expected to have the time to recover from it, and try to enter the 2023 with form similar to what he's shown in 2022. Podiums at Dwars door Vlaanderen, Amstel Gold Race and Clasica San Sebastian - his final race of the season - have seen him thrive, whilst racing in a domestique role for the Dutch team for most of the season.

“I definitely still feel the difference between the racing bike and the mountain bike," he continued, now back on the bike and trying to get in some longer rides. "Things are going a lot better on the mountain bike than a few weeks ago. Step by step I am riding more since I got rid of my hard brace (which he had on his neck). So I was able to cycle again for five hours on Monday.”

"It is the first time during my rehabilitation that I have not been to the physiotherapist for a few days," he said, with great signs towards recovery.

“If you have normal preparation, you are now resting and starting again in mid-November. Because I dropped out with that injury, it was now possible to do this. Next week I will go out with the family and from then on I will really start working towards next season," he concluded.