Lotto-Soudal's Philippe Gilbert may be able to return to competition a little sooner than initially feared after crashing on the opening stage of the Tour de France in Nice. 38-year-old Gilbert broke his kneecap in the crash, but managed to complete the stage and after a week of rest, he is He is already back on his bike and training in the gym.

On Thursday, Gilbert tweeted a photo of himself doing leg lifts, with the message: "Today's fitness workout was great. Getting stronger every day!"

Initially, Gilbert was concerned that he might have repeated or antagonized the same knee injury he suffered when he fell on the descent of the Porte d'Ampe pass in the 2018 Tour. However, he told French radio station Europe 1 earlier this week that the fracture in his patella was not as serious as the injury he sustained two years ago and, according to Het Nieuwsblad, he was back on the bike for light training as early as last Saturday, just one week after the crash.

"My goal now is to ride a slow five or six hour distance," he said. 'If after six hours the pain becomes bearable and my knee doesn't double in size from the effort, then I can start thinking about competing again. But I'm taking it one day at a time and I don't know when that will be."

Gilbert's teammate John Degenkolb also crashed at the end of the opening stage, finishing outside the time limit on a day when rain had made the road surface rough. Nevertheless, Lotto Soudal bounced back despite having only six riders left and won the two stages thanks to the efforts of Australian sprinter Caleb Yuan.

"Of course, I'm disappointed that the Tour is over so soon," Gilbert added. It's been a special year with COVID-19 and all the weird calendar stuff that goes with it. I went into the Tour de France with a lot of confidence, but after 100 kilometers I crashed.