Mathieu van der Pol appears to be preparing for a return to racing as he racks up the kilometers in training in Spain.

The Dutchman cancelled his cyclocross season this winter to allow his long-standing back injury to fully heal, forcing him to take an indefinite break.

At the end of January, he got back on his bike and completed a short indoor ride on a virtual platform. He then headed to Spain and began to break the 100 km barrier, but the Alpecin Phoenix team boss was keen to point out that he was not resuming training.

According to La Gazzetta dello Sport, van der Pol may compete in the Giro d'Italia as part of his recovery and return to racing. Christophe Roudoft declined to say when van der Poel will return to racing, but his title sponsor, Phoenix, is based in Italy and could influence the decision on whether or not van der Poel will return to form in Italy in May.

Despite Roodhoft's comments, van der Poel has since improved and, according to Strava, has completed eight large rides in the past nine days. During that time, he has ridden 1,176 kilometers and spent 32 hours in the saddle.

He may not have done targeted sessions such as interval training or large endurance rides, but the increase in distance and consistency seems to indicate that he is on the road to recovery. He and his team indicated that they would back off immediately at the first sign or flare-up of pain.

Van der Pol has been in contact with other professional players currently based in southeastern Spain, notably Victor Campenaerts and Florian Vermersch of Lot Soudal. He is staying at the same hotel, the Sinclosfera. This hotel was founded by ex-professional Alexander Kolobnev and has special high altitude rooms, which Van der Poel does not use.

Over the past nine days, the Dutch rider completed four five-hour rides and broke the six-hour mark on another 179-km ride around the inland hills.

The ride came at the end of a five-day block, giving him a rest day on February 19, but he returned on Sunday with a three-hour ride and did two more five-hour rides this week.

Van der Pol did not ride the opening weekend of the Classic, effectively foregoing the following Saturday's Strade Bianche, which he won last year.

The big question is whether he will be ready in time for the main spring Classics period, which starts with Milan-San Remo on March 19 and continues through the Belgian cobbles, Tour de Flanders on April 3, and Paris-Roubaix on April 17, later than usual.