Dutchman’s comeback off to a great start following big day of work at the front in Almeria
It has been a difficult nine months for Rabobank’s time trial specialist, Stef Clement. The 28 year old Dutchman made his first race start since last summer today in Andalucia. The former World Championship podium finisher in the time trial found himself sidelined by a mysterious injury for most of the season.
The native of the southern Netherlands province of Noord-Brabant tells some of the terrible tale that left him on the sidelines wondering what was wrong and resulted in him visiting 22 different doctors before figuring out the real problem.
“It took a whole year to find out what was wrong. I went to many different doctors, but never found a solution. There was too much of a fixation on the pain in my foot. Everyone thought it was there. They thought it was an overload [injury]. I was convinced that more was going on. That turned out to be the case when I went to Peter Vergara. After only five hours, he found out that the problem was in my pelvis.”
Once the Vergara diagnosed the real problem with Clement, the rehabilitation process began, and today in Spain, the Dutchman pinned on a race number and made it count. 178 kilometers later, he showed that he was back after working doggedly at the front of the race for most of the day.
Following Clement’s hard day’s efforts at the Clasica de Almeria, Rabobank team manager, Frans Maassen lauded his returning workhorse.
“Stef Clement and Steven Kruijswijk were very strong riding at the front in the chase for the leaders. Steve was impressive and definitely one of the best men in the race. He is quite happy again,” said Maassen to RaboSport.
It’s not entirely clear what’s next for Clement though. Both the team and rider are taking things slowly, one step at a time, as he continues his recovery and return to 100% health.
“After the Clasica de Almeria, I hope to find out more about my follow-up program. I will continue to train and rest and make sure I’m ready when the team needs me,” said Clement to De Telegraaf on Sunday.