After over six months away from the sport, 2003 world junior champion Kai Reus has decided to return to competitive cycling.
The talented Dutchman attended the presentation of the Internationale Juniorendriedaagse race yesterday and revealed that he is now ready to give the sport another shot.
“I've not yet put cycling out of my head. After the winter I plan to return to the peloton,” he said, according to BNDeStem.nl.
The former Rabobank rider announced last September that he was quitting the sport, having enough after a run of bad luck. He had a very serious crash in the French Alps in July 2007, being found unconscious at the side of the road after he failed to return from the training ride. He remained in a coma for almost two weeks, but gradually returned to health.
Reus resumed training and got back to racing in the 2008 Tour of Missouri. He continued to build form and seemed to be back in strong shape when he took the second stage of the 2009 Tour of Britain, held the yellow jersey for several days and finished fourth overall.
However he contracted mononucleosis, and had to stop racing until May 2010. He returned and took 35th overall in the Tour of Belgium, but then walked away.
"It's just not good," he said at the time. “There is more going on than I can quickly explain, but I've just had enough of all these setbacks.
"I have spent three years fighting to come back. There have been many ups and downs, and I must now look carefully at what I will do in the future."
The former under 23 Liège-Bastogne-Liège winner decided to take up speed skating, and has been faring well in that sport this year. When he hung up his wheels last autumn, he didn’t rule out a return, but rather stated that he wanted to have a complete mental break from cycling.
“I have not finally cut the knot,” Reus said. “I now want to take a year for myself, and then we see if I still will return to the sport.”
It now appears he is ready to give it another shot. Reus explained that he became so run down that he had little choice but to take a break.
“In hindsight, you could say that this was insufficiently recognized,” he said, referring to his glandular fever. “As I continued training, it hit doubly hard. That is why it [cycling] didn’t attract me any more, and why I returned my contract.”
It remains to be seen what level he will compete at. He will likely take a few months to get up to speed, then it will be more clear if he will compete once more at WorldTour level. His former Rabobank team were supportive of his decision and so if he proves he has the necessary form, it may be interested in taking him on again.