Injury-hit Wout van Aert has offered an apology to any fellow riders he has made fun of in the past for using spacers under their handlebar stems.
The apology was only made tongue-in-cheek though – it came in the title of his latest Strava activity, which saw the Belgian riding a mountain bike with gravel tyres and, of course, spacers under the stem.
It was the Visma-Lease A Bike rider's first ride on the road since his terrible crash at Dwars door Vlaanderen on March 27, which saw him break his collarbone, fracture several ribs and his sternum.
Van Aert titled the 30.4km (18.8 mile) ride north of his home town of Herentals: "Sorry to all the colleagues I've ever given shit to because they have spacers under their stem".
Underneath he wrote, 'First spin outside —> new bike day'.
Pro riders usually ride with minimal spacers and often have their stems 'slammed' onto the top of the head tube, as they seek out maximal aero gains. But Van Aert's full-suspension Cervélo mountain bike – sporting an all-yellow paintjob and 'Jumbo-Visma' team sticker (needs updating Wout!) – featured what looked to be around 20mm of spacers under the short stem. Ideal for someone recovering from a hard crash and multiple upper-body fractures.
Kitted out with deep-section carbon wheels and Vittoria Terreno gravel tyres, Van Aert averaged 28kph (17.5mph) – more than creditable given the bike and his condition.
It wasn't the first Strava activity Van Aert has recorded since his crash at Dwars, which saw him miss his key early-season aims of the Tour of Flanders and Paris-Roubaix.
He has posted a few short walks, including one last week titled 'First shower in 12 days', and another on the day of the Amstel Gold Race called 'Amstel bronze reflection' – presumably a nod to his team-mate Tiesj Benoot's third place at the Dutch Classic behind winner Tom Pidcock.
It is not known when Van Aert – whose next big season goal is the Paris Olympic Games – will return to competition. He has already signalled that he won't be riding the Giro d'Italia, where he will be replaced by team-mate Christophe Laporte, with Olav Kooij aiming for sprint wins and Cian Uijtebroeks the general classification.
