When Mike Woods started the 2022 Tour de France, Israel Premier Tech said his first goal was "not to crash in the first week," and he nearly achieved it.

But after narrowly missing the break to Planche des Belles Filles on stage 7, Woods fell heavily early in stage 9, scraped his back and buttocks, and rode injured all day.

A week later, the 35-year-old Woods, who joined the breakaway to Mende, told Cycling News before the start of stage 15 on Sunday morning that he is physically on the mend. However, "I'm still not back to where I was before I crashed," Woods said, but his goal is to be in good enough shape to contend for the win in the three Pyrenean stages.

But while Woods is focused on the third week of the Tour, he is also looking beyond July, with the Vuelta a España and the Italian Classics in the fall half his sights.

"I just came back from a crash [on stage 9] and I'm struggling. [especially yesterday [stage 14], which was circled on the calendar.

"But I'm not at 100 percent after the crash, and I'm still recovering from problems with my hip and groin.

The crash has proven to be an all too familiar factor in Woods' previous Tour entries. In 2019, his first year on Tour, Woods fell multiple times and suffered multiple injuries, including two broken ribs, but made it to Paris. And in 2021, the day Woods was crowned the Tour's king of the mountains, he crashed again on a high-speed descent.

"Crashes have always held me back in the Tour," Woods agreed. 'I'm always in bad shape after crashes, and that's just the way I am.'

"So I'm hoping the timing of my recovery will coincide with the last three days of the Tour in the mountains."

Woods, currently 47th overall, said he is not picky about which stages he will target in the Pyrenees, which begin Tuesday. I'll go for any stage."

"Autacam [stage 18] looks good. I love the Pyrenees. I live in the Pyrenees and I know the area well. So I expect to be back to full strength on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday."

Israel Premier Tech suffered a COVID-19 positive on Sunday, forcing fifth stage winner Simon Clark to abandon. [Most teams are affected by this. 'We've followed the protocol very closely, and everyone else tested negative today [Sunday]. So it sucks to see him go, but that's the nature of the beast now."

The other "beast" attacking the Tour is the intense heat, but Woods says high temperatures are also tough territory, given time to adapt.

"If you adapt, you can handle the heat," he said, citing his various experiences in races held in sweltering heat as evidence.

"I did the Mont Ventoux race a few weeks ago, and it was really bad and blew me away. But then I adapted to Occitanie and won it outright in weather that could have been hotter than today [Sunday]."

"I don't like racing in 40 degrees. But that's pro cycling.

Woods also said that after suffering a crash in the first half of the Tour, "I started to look at the bigger picture instead of focusing on what was in front of me."

"There are still a lot of races left next week, so I'm focusing on those."

"I like to run two Grand Tours in one season.