Tiesj Benoot ready to show that he still can win and perform well after nasty crash - "I am ahead of schedule"

Tiesj Benoot had an very interesting debut season for Jumbo-Visma being one of the main supporters of Wout Van Aert throw out the spring classics until a car driver hit him in August causing a broken cervical vertebra injury that ended his season.

Despite this serious injury that lead to the abrupt end of his season and long rehabilitation progress Benoot remains confident and positive about his performance on the bike for next season. "I still sometimes suffer from a stiff neck with certain movements, but to my feeling I am ahead of schedule and will be completely fine for the start of the new season," said the Belgium during his team press conference.

He stated also that "the motivation for me lies mainly in the fact that it is a challenge to get that level back," and "it's an extra challenge to show that I did come out of that rehab better. A lot of good riders have shown that too."

This type of accidents can also make an significant scar on the cyclists but Benoot seems to have overcome that. "Now when I see a car coming out of a street, I am extra careful. You do feel you carry that with you somewhere, but I don't have the feeling I'm extra scared on the bike."

"If you look at Remco Evenepoel and Wout van Aert in a recent past, they both certainly didn't come out of a bad accident any worse. That is also my ambition." said the confident Benoot , but what are his goals for the next season?

It remains my ambition this year to be able to win one of the races between the Omloop and Liège," he stated refering to his ambitions. "I still believe I can win the biggest races in the world and then I have a bigger chance in this team than in any other team, I think."

Not being worried about internal competition, "I was also asked a lot this year if my personal ambitions were done, but I was on the podium three times in a one-day WorldTour race. In the races that really suit me, I always got chances. I always see it as an advantage to ride with those guys in the team rather than against." Benoot is clearly a name to watch next season.