Michael Valgren returns to racing

After months of rehab to recover from his crash last summer, the Dane is ready to return to competition. He will race the Région Pays de la Loire Tour with his WorldTour teammates. It is already a great accomplishment for Michael to feel ready to do that. During his crash last summer in the Route d’Occitanie, he fractured his pelvis and ruptured his ACL, his MCL, and the meniscus in his knee. Rehab was difficult. Before he could really begin work on his knee, his pelvis had to heal so it was strong enough to bear his weight. For a long time, Michael didn’t know when he would be able to move normally or wake up without pain, but he never doubted that he wanted to come back to racing. Since returning to full health, he has been training well.

“My numbers are really good,” Michael says. “Obviously training and racing are very different, so having good numbers doesn’t mean that you are going to go fast in racing, but we made a really good plan, and I have been doing that to perfection. I don’t have any particular pain anymore when riding. I don’t have to do any rehab specific stuff anymore. I go to the gym twice a week, but I don’t see a physiotherapist anymore because I am over the pain. I go to the gym to get stronger and get the muscles back, but now I am just focusing on riding my bike, and doing my efforts, and getting fitter and faster on my bike.”

The Région Pays de la Loire Tour won’t be an easy test. The classic French stage race, long known as the Circuit de la Sarthe, is held in the windswept hills of France’s northwest.

Over four days of racing, Michael will reacquaint himself with the rhythm of competition and get used to fighting for position in the peloton. He is determined to return to the kind of form that brought him wins in the Amstel Gold Race and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad. That will be a process. Michael is presently on our EF-Nippo-Development Team roster, so he can make his comeback at his own pace.

“I am just looking forward to getting back in the bunch and having a good week and enjoying it,” Michael says. “There won’t be any pressure. I will just ride into it and get used to it and the speed and being with my strong teammates. It is super nice to see them. They are doing really well. I would love to help them get another win. There are no big expectations from my side, but I want to be a part of the race. I don’t want to be a passenger. I want to contribute with what I can and see what I can do and where I am. It should be alright but I think the race will tell. I told Matti Breschel, our DS, that he shouldn’t treat me any differently because it is my first race back. I want to contribute where I can. I don’t want to be riding at the back of the peloton for a four day holiday in western France.”

From now on, Michael is going to make the most of every chance he gets in cycling. The past months have made him appreciate bike racing all the more.

"It feels really good to be a bike rider again," Michael says. "This sport is amazing. You sometimes take these things for granted. That is one of the good things about this injury of mine. I have been away for so long. I missed this. I am so lucky to be a bike rider, and do the sport I love, and get paid for it, and live from it. That is so nice, to get a reminder of that. Sometimes you're a brat and complain about this or that. But in the end, we love it. And it is just nice to get that reminder."

We’re so happy to have you back in the peloton Michael. Good luck in France!