Wout van Aert told Cycling News that he has unfinished business at the Tour de France after being named to the Jumbo Visma squad for the 2020 Tour de France. Van Aert was named to the team's Tour de France squad at a presentation in Amsterdam on Friday, along with Primoz Roglic and newcomer Tom Dumoulin. Jumbo Visma made the unusual decision to announce a full Tour team to give riders a clear goal for the first half of next season, and Van Aert has registered eight riders for 2020, despite still recovering from the horrific accident that took him out of this year's Tour.

Speaking exclusively to Cycling News at the team's training camp in Spain earlier this week, Van Aert said: "It's not revenge, but I have unfinished business at the Tour de France.

Van Aert crashed at the end of the individual time trial at this year's Tour, resulting in two major surgeries on his injured right leg. As a result, he had to undergo two major surgeries on his injured right leg, which forced him to take a five-month break. He will undergo another medical checkup on December 23 to determine if he will be able to compete in the cyclocross race later this month, but the 2020 Tour de France is a major goal for him and Jumbo-Visma. The team will go into the Tour with Dumoulin, Primoš Roglic, and Steven Kruijswijk as its leaders.

"It's a big goal, especially with Tom Dumoulin joining the team, Steven getting his first podium and Primoš winning the Vuelta. It's incredible to be a part of this team, and what's most exciting is that everyone saw how good I was this year and wanted me to be a part of the team. It's one of my big goals for next season," Van Aert told Cycling News.

The 2019 Tour was a roller coaster ride of emotions for the 25-year-old. He was part of the team that won the team time trial on stage 2 and the sprint stage to Albi on stage 10. His crash on stage 13 highlighted just how fickle and dangerous the sport can be. Despite the setback, Van Aert remains positive about his Tour de France experience, highlighting the team time trial as a major accomplishment in his career.

"The Tour came with success, but the TTT day was the most special and best experience of my cycling career. I come from an individual competition background, but I've never done a TTT at this level and I never thought I would feel this way. It was a real team effort between the riders and the staff. This feeling, and to win the white jersey in Belgium, was too good to be true."

However, there were times during his long rehabilitation period when Van Aert had major doubts about whether he could or would ever return to the top of the sport; he was hospitalized for weeks after two surgeries, and as a result, rehabilitation became a daily routine. First on crutches and then without assistance, he had to virtually learn to walk again, and during those weeks, Van Aart admits that he struggled to see the light.

"I was in the hospital for the first 10 days, but when I got home I was relieved. At that point I was fine because I knew I was getting a little better every day. The first day I couldn't do anything, but the next day I could sit up in bed. But after 4 weeks I could do things around the house with crutches, and for the next 3 weeks not much changed, I couldn't walk more than a kilometer, and I had the biggest doubts. There was no improvement and I really doubted if I could walk properly again." [15][16] "After two weeks of rehabilitation, I no longer needed crutches. My coordination came back and it was easier. For the first time in this camp, I spent more time on the bike than in physical therapy. Right now we are working on the last few percent.

Van Aert arrived in Girona a few days earlier than the rest of the Jumbo Visma team for an extended training session. So far, he is competing well with his teammates, but admits that there are still areas to work on for a full return to competition, both in cyclocross and on the road.

"It's still a little different in the all-out sprints. Sometimes I don't have the courage to use my right leg completely. I'm a little afraid to push, but I can still use the impact I need for running and cyclocross. When I run on stairs, I still feel pain the next day. For example, I can handle 10 flights of stairs, but the 11th one is the problem. I don't want to end my rehab as a good cyclist. I don't want to end my career and still not be able to run more than a mile.