Michal Walgren last wore a number in June 2022, when he suffered a terrible crash on the third stage of La Route d'Occitanie, fracturing his pelvis and tearing the ACL, MCL, and meniscus of his knee.

He faced a long road back to full health, let alone bike racing. But after 10 months of recovery and reconstruction, the Danish rider is ready to race again and will compete in the Pays de la Loire regional tour of France, which starts Tuesday.

Valgren is currently registered with the EF-Nippo-Development team. The WorldTour team said the shift is to allow him to comeback at his own pace, but he will return to the 4-day 2.1 race with his former WorldTour teammates from EF Education-EasyPost. under UCI rules, teams can line up among related teams can mix it up.

"I'm looking forward to getting back in the group, having a good week, and having fun. No pressure. I want to get used to the speed and be with strong teammates."

"No big expectations from my side. I don't want to be in the passenger seat. ...... I want to contribute where I can. I don't want to be at the tail end of the peloton for a four-day vacation in western France."

The race in northwestern France begins on Tuesday, April 4 with a 134.4-km flat stage from Saint-Nazaire to Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie, followed by a 123-km stage from Clisson to Le Lion d'Angers, and on Thursday from Bauges-en-en-Joux to Mayenne, followed by a 152-km uphill stage from Beaugée-en-Anjou to Mayenne.

Valgren will race alongside Ben Healy, James Shaw, Georg Steinhauser, Julius van den Bergh, and Marline van den Bergh.

"My numbers are really good. Of course, training and racing are two very different things, so good numbers don't necessarily mean you'll be fast in the race."

The 31-year-old last attempted a French stage race in 2015, finishing 25th, but it's hard to imagine a better outcome for the winner of the 2018 Amstel Gold Race and Omloop Het Nieuwsblad than to be back on the start line.

"It feels really good to be a bike rider again," Balgren said. [This sport is great. This sport is great. That's one of the good things about this injury. I've been away for so long. I missed this."