The Tour Down Under was the first race of this season for Bram Tankink. A race in which he crashed hard. After the busy program in Australia and a long flight, Bram returned to his family in Belgium. Time for an update.

It was a bit of a shock after you hit the tarmac in the Tour Down Under. How are you, Bram?

By now it is getting better. But it's also been a week ago now. Last week I had a lot of pain in my ribs. For a cyclist the recovery is always too slow, but I feel that I am getting better again.

You made a long journey. Did the team jet-lag protocol help you to recover and overcome the time differences?

Yes, that protocol helped. The flights were very relaxed and basically I had no jet-lag at home. I slept well every night.

What's more on the program in terms of training and competitions?

I'm going into a training period now. I will be back in competition in the Omloop het Nieuwsblad. This is because I go to the Giro d’Italia and in combination with the spring classics are March, April and May very busy months. Thus, for now the focus is on training and I will prepare for Paris-Nice.

Do you still need treatment after your crash?

I have an appointment with the chiropractor, but if you have bruised ribs then it just takes time to heal. Rest and a balanced training load, are the best ingredients. In this respect the weather helps ;-) ...