Philippe Gilbert (Quick-Step Floors) will make his return to competition earlier than expected, having recovered well enough from a fractured kneecap in a dramatic crash in the Tour de France to come back in the Grand Prix d`Isbergues on September 23. The Belgian crashed on the descent of the Col de Portet d`Aspet on stage 16 while on the attack from the day`s breakaway, and fell over a stone wall onto the ground three-metres below. He got back on his bike and finished the stage, but x-rays taken at the finish in Luchon confirmed the fracture. Initially, he said he thought his season was over, but a few weeks later the picture brightened. `The first days after the crash were a bit difficult, to be honest,` Gilbert said in a press release this week. `Experts were saying that the injury didn`t look good and that it would take a long time to recover, many even said the season was over and that I should start focusing on 2019. I didn`t want to hear this, however, and wanted to prove them wrong, so I worked really hard to get back, day and night. And I mean it: I literally woke up at night and started doing exercises.`ADVERTISEMENT Gilbert left the hospital after two days, renting his own equipment to continue his rehabilitation at home - a move he said was important for his recovery. `Staying optimistic was the key as I kept working hard every day and after three weeks, I was on the bike again, able to pedal for one hour and a half,` he said. At that time, he predicted he might return to racing for Paris-Tours on October 7. `Truth being told, I still felt a lot of pain and was only doing some 20 kilometers on average, but as the days went by I improved, not pushing hard but going easy. After one week I was able to do two hours and a half, and last week I could finally do a proper effort on the pedals, like eight minutes, and was relieved as I felt no pain and my numbers were rather good.`
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