No two roads to Omloop Het Nieuwsblad and the Opening Weekend are ever identical, but for former winner Michael Valgren (EF Education-EasyPost), his long countdown to Saturday’s start in Gent is perhaps one of the rarest and most tenacious of recent years.
Valgren was victorious in Omloop Het Nieuwsblad in 2018 before going on to clinch the Amstel Gold Race the same spring. However, in June 2022, at the Route d’Occitanie, a major crash left the Danish rider with a fractured pelvis, two ruptured knee ligaments and a ruptured meniscus. That evening, doctors were unwilling to say if a return to racing was ever going to be possible or if Valgren’s career was over.
It did turn out to be possible, finally. But first came after months of rehabilitation and an entire year registered with the EF Education-Nippo Development Team in 2023, prior to a full-scale return to the WorldTour squad - with whom he also raced last season - this January.
During the recent Volta ao Algarve, which he completed in a respectable 44th place, Cyclingnews suggested to Valgren that after such a difficult 18 months, in some ways, anything he achieves in racing from here on in must feel like a bonus.
The 33-year-old agreed, albeit initially in a somewhat laconic Danish style, saying, “Yeah, you could maybe say it like that.”
But his enthusiasm and motivation shine through quickly enough afterwards when he immediately added, “I’m super happy and grateful to be back here, super glad to be in a World race and to be going in the big races this year.
“I feel like I belong here, so for sure it’s a bonus, but I’m not, let’s say, done with performing, I still want to perform.”
Probably the best news of all for Valgren is there have been no long-term effects physically from the crash, or as he puts it, “Now I’m happy, the form is good, this year I’m basically preparing for the Classics, I am where I want to be. I’ve had a good winter, so I can’t complain at the moment.”
Nor could he complain about the Volta ao Algarve, either where on stage 1 he did some sterling work for Marijn (van den Berg), saying afterwards that “I went over the last little kick with him in the top five and delivered him before the roundabout then my job was over.”
The sprinter, unfortunately, had to abandon the race on stage 3 because of a crash that also poleaxed former World Champion and teammate Rui Costa, who suffered a broken collarbone.
But the big goal and test in February, Valgren said, will come at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad.
“Obviously I have good memories of that, it was my first big win in a one-day race so I look forward to being back there,” he said.
“The last time was in 2022, so obviously, it’s been a while for me to get back to the cobbles, but I love these races. And hopefully, this race [Volta ao Algarve] will give me the last little kick I need to perform well.
“I feel great, and I think I can be up there in the final in Nieuwsblad, so that’s my ambition and my hope.”
Valgren will be doing a recon of the Belgian cobbles on Friday, basically for the tyre pressures, rather than to refresh his memory on how they feel, after which he will continue with Paris-Nice before heading to Flanders.
And as for whether he will be concerned about peaking too soon to then shine again in the Tour of Flanders - probably one of the most oft-repeated statistics about Belgian Classics is that no rider has ever won Omloop and the Ronde in the same year - Valgren argued that in his case at least, it’s not something that worries him. Personal history, too, is on his side, albeit from six years ago when he had his breakthrough season.
“I think it is possible to do well in both. When I won Omloop in 2018, I was also fourth in Flanders, so that could easily have been a win, then I went on to Amstel and I won there, too," he said.
“So I think a lot depends more on where your head is. If you feel tired after Omloop, it’s a bad sign, but if you feel fresh and good inside yourself, you can ride and perform in the whole Classics season.”
In terms of his own goals, in any case, after his long fightback, Valgren says he’s more than motivated to have a go in all the races he can.
“It’s really hard to focus on just one race like the Tour of Flanders, say, I’d rather be really good at the start of the year and see how long it lasts,” he said.
“And I really want to show myself. These races are so difficult because it’s not just about legs; it's also about positioning and being lucky. So hopefully, I’ll have no bad luck, and we’ll see how far I can get.”
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