Tiesj Benoot talks about signs of improvement from serious neck injury - "The fracture is stable"

Tiesj Benoot has crashed hard whilst training at altitude in Livigno this past August, as he was training with Wout van Aert in preparation for the final part of the season. The Jumbo-Visma rider collided with a car and suffered a fractured vertebrae that left him in a neck brace for several weeks.

"I can now wear such a soft collar, including to sleep. But I can also gradually take it off if it feels right. It mainly serves to support my neck muscles, because they have been weakened in recent weeks from wearing that brace," he told Het Nieuwsblad. The Belgian has been recovering at home and has taken a step in his path bath to full health.

“The fracture is stable. In the images they see calcium formation and part of the fracture, but that is growing back together," he explained. "The doctors advise me to start with a bike where I sit a little more upright. So I can go for a ride on the street with my mountain bike.”

Benoot played a crucial role throughout the year in Jumbo-Visma, assisting Wout van Aert and Christophe Laporte to several high-level results in the spring classics - aswell as riding into the podium at the Dwars door Vlaanderen and Amstel Gold Race, before riding the Tour de France in support of Jonas Vingegaard and van Aert's ambitions, which were greatly achieved - followed by another podium at the Clasica San Sebastian. The crash has ended his season, but as he has inked with the team into 2025, there is time to recover to his best level and help the team in it's success.