Bax far from back after hard crash with Evenepoel: "They cut some muscles and hammered a pin into the bone"

The Tour Down Under is underway, the big names are at training camps, and everyone is burning with ambition for 2024. This is not the case for Sjoerd Bax, who, after a severe crash in the Tour of Lombardy, is still deep in the rehabilitation process. The 28-year-old Dutchman of UAE Team Emirates broke his femur, and a comeback is therefore still some time away. For this reason, IDLProCycling.com spoke extensively with him.

Disaster struck early for Bax in Il Lombardia. Remco Evenepoel lost his balance and hooked into the handlebars of the UAE rider. Both went down, but we could immediately see Bax sitting down, shaking his head. More than two months after that moment, we meet up with him during the media day of UAE Team Emirates in Spain. Bax is walking, he is laughing, he is talking...

Read the interview below the video!

How are you? The last time we saw you, you weren't in a very nice situation...

"No, that's right. It's heading in the right direction. I can cycle a bit again, though you can't really call it training yet. Just some slow cycling, and then it improves a little bit each week. It's just a severe injury, but I think it will be alright."

Can you explain what you've had to go through in the past few months?

"Fortunately, I was operated on that same evening. They put a pin in my hip, and that's still there. After four days, I flew home and from there, I had to relearn how to walk and did a lot of strength training. Because it was a major bone that broke, it all takes a long time. I walked with two crutches for four weeks and then with one. After that, I started cycling indoors, and that felt very easy because you can still rotate your legs. It just took a while before I could put some strength on it. And that's still not entirely possible, just like a deep sitting position."

Was it a complicated injury?

"Not really, actually. It was a clean break, and the surgeon placed the pin in very straight. I shouldn't have any more complications. But it was a major surgery, so recovering from that takes a good while. Fortunately, I didn't have to change anything in my bike settings and I'm not standing crooked or anything."

So it's really a matter of slowly increasing the load and making the injured area more flexible...

"Yes! In the surgery, they cut through some muscles to get there and then they hammered a pin into the bone. After that, it should heal, but the rest of your body has also taken a hit. So everything around that bone also needs to strengthen again."

Were the doctors ever afraid that it wouldn't heal properly?

"No, no. I never really experienced any stress about that myself. I have two or three teammates who have also had it, and they are just riding around again. And I didn't even know they had it because you can't tell by looking at them. So that does give me good hope."

When will you be about a hundred percent again?

"This injury does change my preparation for the season because normally I would have liked to have ridden the classics and the Giro d'Italia. I don't know when I'll be back, it really depends on how quickly everything heals. If everything goes very well, I might be very good in April or May. But then you have races to ride, so you can't really build your form. So I think it will be after the Tour de France before I'm really good again."

So you're not making a goal out of the spring races, then?

"Yeah, it's difficult. I don't really know what to expect from the spring. I hope recovery goes quickly and that I can still do some of the races. But it's also possible that it goes slower, or that I have a setback. Like having to go back to training five hours a day. Then you're not going to reach top form, although in cycling, sometimes you can ride hard even without being in top form."

How do you look back on 2023?

"I didn't really have any expectations. In the classics, I had a lot to learn because I had never ridden those before. It went better towards the end, with Paris-Roubaix, which I really enjoyed. In the fall, I was in good form, and it was great to be on the list for the Tour of Lombardy. It's a shame it ended the way it did, but I can only be very satisfied."

Last year we were here too, and for example, you hadn't really spoken to Tadej Pogacar yet. What's it like after a year with such a big team, with such a big leader?

"I'm sitting here much more relaxed than last year. You now know everyone, and I'm glad I chose this team back then. There's a very friendly and calm atmosphere, and in all the races, it's all good fun, right up until the start. They also appreciate the work you do."

Pogacar mentioned you after his victory in Lombardy in the flash interview. He said he hoped you were doing well and that you're such a good cyclist. What did that mean to you?

"It was definitely nice, especially in a moment like that. That guy is incredibly busy with interviews right after the race, so it's great that he thought of me then. I've experienced the same with the other team leaders. Everyone immediately sent a message. That's what makes a good leader."

Who are your best friends here?

"I don't really have one best friend, but there are a lot of guys I get along with. It also varies depending on who you race with. Sometimes it's Hirschi and Wellens, and sometimes I share a room with Vegard Stake Laengen. I get along well with all of them."

Everyone always praises Visma | Lease a Bike, while UAE-Team Emirates is mainly seen as that team with a lot of money, and Pogacar. How do things work within the team?

"There is also a solid structure behind us. Just look at the time trials, which have improved a lot for us. Everyone on the team is riding good time trials. We have almost the same facilities as Visma, it's just that maybe we are a bit less strict with them. At Visma, there might be a stricter plan, while with us it's more about how you approach things as a rider. You can work with the dietitian for a whole season if you want. But if you are a bit less focused, you can also be on your own and take things a bit less strictly."

A more structured approach versus a more free approach...

"Yes, I think so. Of course, I don't know exactly how things work at Visma | Lease a Bike, but here you are sometimes really allowed to plan or decide something for yourself. I personally like that."

Do you think that, at a fundamental level, there are a lot of differences between the two teams?

"No, I don't think so. Visma has everything very well organized on paper. They have a very structured approach to things like time trials, for example, whereas with us, things can be a bit more stressful at the last minute. That's also a bit part of the Italian and Spanish culture. For training, we often leave fifteen minutes later than planned. There is a difference there, but all teams nowadays have a performance staff, aerodynamics tests on the track... You obviously need a budget to do all that, but fortunately, we have that."

Pogacar is going to do things completely differently in terms of his program in 2024. Do you notice any changes in training, program and structure within the team?

"We are still doing pretty much the same, actually. Last year we had a good season as a team, and we just want to continue that."

You can't really have specific goals for 2024 yet, of course, but UAE-Team Emirates has its goals all planned out. How do you view the double for Pogacar and the ultra-strong Tour team?

"We have a lot of good riders for grand tours. We're now sending Pogacar to the Giro and all the leaders to the Tour, but for the Vuelta, we still have very good riders left. That's a good development, and it's admirable that Pogacar is going to the Giro."