Team RadioShack sprinter Gert Steegmans will make his return to professional racing in next week’s Vuelta a Castilla y León in Spain, but expects that it will take him a while to get back to a reasonable level of form.
The Belgian crashed during a freak accident in the prologue of Paris-Nice, hitting the deck when an unexplained gust of wind slammed him to the ground.
He suffered a broken collarbone there and has been working ever since to try to get back on track.
“The first competition will not be easy,” Steegmans conceded, speaking to the Het Balang van Limburg, “I want to get to a good level by the Tour of Picardie [May 14-16].”
According to the newspaper, he might also do the Tour de Romandie, and is a certainty for the Tour of Belgium. After that, he is expected to compete in either the Dauphiné Libéré or the Tour de Suisse, with one goal in mind.
“I want to convince Lance Armstrong to bring me to the Tour,” he said.
If he does go to France, he wants to head there wearing the yellow, black and red jersey of Belgian champion. He believes that things could go well for him in the one day contest, which will take place in Leuven this year. “I want to be in peak condition for that race. I think the course there should suit me well.”
Steegmans has won two stages in the Tour de France, beating team-mate Tom Boonen into Gent in 2007 and then triumphing on the Champs Elysées one year later.
He moved to Team RadioShack over the winter and was second and fourth on stages of the Tour Down Under in January.