Inside Team Visma | Lease a Bike, the message at the time was calm. The injury was serious enough to demand respect, but the recovery was progressing smoothly. What the Spain images now provide is confirmation that this confidence was grounded in reality.

Crucially, Van Aert’s return to volume has come without drama. Swelling has been acknowledged as part of the process, but the ankle has not prevented him from training normally once clipped in. The emphasis has shifted quickly from recovery to preparation.

This update is not about words. Van Aert’s public comments on the injury were already known from media day. What is new here is proof.

Training images matter at this stage of the season because they reveal how close a rider is to normality. Easy spins can be staged. A 183-kilometre endurance ride, repeated climbing and high-speed descending cannot. Those details suggest the ankle is no longer dictating daily limits.

For Visma, that is significant. Van Aert’s spring ambitions depend on continuity rather than peak form in January. Missing a cyclocross finale hurts, but losing weeks of structured winter work would have been far more damaging. The Spain block suggests that scenario has been avoided.

Nothing has been officially changed in Van Aert’s programme. The intention remains to open his road season at Omloop Het Nieuwsblad, with the wider spring classics block still the clear focal point of his campaign.

At this stage, there is no need to rush conclusions. But the trajectory is encouraging. Following surgery and a brief recovery phase, Van Aert appears to have moved beyond uncertainty and back into familiar territory.

For a rider who has endured repeated disruptions in recent seasons, that may be the most important signal of all.