Matti Breschel's recent early exit from the Volta ao Algarve sent alarm bells ringing the world over. Following an extensive rehabilitation process after undergoing surgery to his knee after taking second in the World Championships in Geelong last fall, Breschel made his return to racing in Portugal amid hope that he could right his hurt ship in time for a healthy, fit run at the Spring Classics in April.
Things didn't go as planned though. The newly signed Rabobank rider made it two stages, but dropped out early on in the third stage, complaining of knee problems.
The worst was quickly assumed, but late on Monday, there was good news to be reported: Breschel's knee was just fine.
The 2009 Danish National Champion relayed the news to sporten.tv2.dk.
"[The knee] is ok. I've been on the bike since then and noticed nothing of it."
Following his retirement from the Tour of the Algarve last week, the fast finisher refused to speculate on what was wrong with his knee until he saw his doctor. Fortunately, the news from the doctor was good.
"The doctor knows my history and knows my problems. He said it was nothing serious, and it was not something I should be worried about. The knee just takes some time. Perhaps it was just too early to try to race on it."
With the latest setback in his 2011 season, Breschel is beginning to set his goals back a bit. There was hope that he might just be able to get things back in order just in time for the Spring Classics, but that looks more and more unlikely. For that to have worked, his recovery would have had to have been absolutely perfect, but withdrawing from the Algarve after only two stages and a little bit of a third can hardly be described as perfect. The chance is of course still there, but Breschel seems to be drifting away from dreaming too much, preferring to stay sensible and be surprised if anything miraculous should occur.
"I'm not thinking so much that I want to win them [anymore]. I'd like to race them, but I also need to get ready now. It would be slightly vexing to try to prepare and then have a recurrence."
While the return to racing for the Rabobank Classics captain was anything but smooth, at least he's not staring at another extended stay off the bike due to a real problem with his knee. For the moment, it appears that his knee issues in Portugal were only a hiccup.