Rewind to Sunday 28 February. About thirty kilometres before the finish of Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne Lotto Soudal rider Stig Broeckx got hit by a motorbike. He incurred a collarbone fracture, a fractured rib and a bruised hand. The almost 26-year-old rider had to undergo surgery of his collarbone.

Seven weeks after Kuurne-Brussels-Kuurne Stig talks about how he dealt with the accident.

 “It’s such a shame this happened, it shouldn’t be part of cycling. A few weeks ago there was the fatal accident of Antoine Demoitié which caused a lot of emotions because I knew Antoine well. If it made me realize that it could have turned out worse for me as well? Believe me, I was aware of that immediately after the accident.

“The motor rider who hit me contacted me a few days later to apologize and I accepted his apologies. I know he has a heart for cycling and really cares for the riders. The problem was the high speed with which he passed by the peloton and the fact that he didn’t honk to warn that he was coming.

“We have to draw conclusions from this accident and what happened to Antoine Demoitié. Of course safety is important to all people involved in cycling, but it would be good to make everyone even more aware of the dangers. I am convinced that when all parties sit together measures can be agreed. Just like there is an extreme weather protocol there should be more rules regarding cars and motors in races. I think of speed limits or the distances to the riders. Because of a succession of events this is the moment to undertake action.”

After the surgery of his collarbone Stig Broeckx needed a long time to recover. No spring races for him. He focused on his comeback as soon as he could. Broeckx will start racing again at the Tour of Turkey (24/04 – 1/05) and is also one of the riders in the preselection for the Giro. He is really confident.

“After the crash I was very disappointed that I would miss out on the rest of the spring. When I was on the ground I immediately felt how severe the injury was. I already had broken my collarbone twice, but this was much more painful. Normally you are back in action after one week, but now I only started feeling better after three weeks. My body was seriously hurt, so I didn’t only need to recover from that collarbone fracture. After those first three weeks I went to Mallorca to build up my condition again. I did all I could to get ready to race again.

“I actually trained like I do in winter time. During my training in Mallorca I listened to my body and I took sufficient rest. All parameters show that I am in optimal condition, but I have some reservations. I did all that is in my power to get fit, now I have to see how my body reacts to racing.

“I can’t wait to race again, because it’s frustrating that I have hardly been able to race after all the hard work in the off-season. Objective tests showed that I had made progress. I felt that I was ready to do lots of work for the team. Now that will have to happen in the rest of the season. I am keen, let that be clear. At the Tour of Turkey I want to show my teammates that they can rely on me again.”