Bart Wellens will celebrate his cyclocross comeback on December 12 at the cross race in Essen, Belgium. Wellens suffered from the cytomegalo virus and is slowly recovering.
He is ramping up his training schedule. “I do sessions of 1.5 to three hours, either on the road or on the rollers. My body is reacting quite well,” the Belgian told Belgian paper De Morgen. “My resting heart rate is going down also.” In addition, the tension on his body is decreasing and he started back and abdomen exercises again.
Wellens heads to a training camp on Mallorca for ten days. “The date for my comeback is the GvA cross in Essen. Before that, I go to the team’s training camp in Valencia [Spain].”
Wellens, who rides for the Fidea team, started the cross season in Erpe-Mere, finishing eighth in the season opener. But he was unable to start a week later, in Neerpelt.
The cross season wraps at the beginning of February, so his late start means he will most of this cyclocross season.