Seixas’s Belgian counterpart finally set for racing return after injury layoff

The 20-year-old Lotto-Intermarché rider has not raced since February. Illness forced him out of the Ardèche Classic, before a left knee injury ruled him out of the Drôme Classic, Strade Bianche, the Tour of the Basque Country and the Ardennes classics.

Widar suffered the knee problem during a training camp in Spain after contact with a car, according to Lotto-Intermarché sports manager Kurt Van de Wouwer.

“His left knee was so badly affected that he had to reckon with swelling, meaning friction developed,” Van de Wouwer said to  Het Nieuwsblad. “Surgery was considered, but we wanted to avoid that. So Jarno and the team had no choice but to be patient.”

Van de Wouwer praised Widar’s response during a frustrating period away from racing.

“Staying calm in elite sport is not easy, and certainly not when you are 20,” he said. “But Jarno realised quickly that he could not rush this.”

Widar is expected to resume his programme in Switzerland, with the GP of Gippingen followed by the Tour de Suisse. He is then scheduled to ride the Belgian Championships in Brasschaat, before an altitude camp in Livigno and the Vuelta a Burgos.

A debut in the Vuelta a España remains possible, although the team will first assess how Widar responds after his layoff.

Van de Wouwer also urged caution over comparisons with French talent Paul Seixas, who has impressed this spring and belongs to the same generation as Widar.

“A comparison with Seixas is not fair,” he said. “Not everyone develops at the same speed. We have to be careful not to set the bar too high too soon for Jarno, so he can develop at his own pace.”

Still, the comparison is not entirely far fetched. At last year’s Tour de l’Avenir, Widar twice beat Seixas in mountain stages. In the end, time lost in the time trials and on the opening stage proved costly, with Seixas taking overall victory and Widar finishing second, just 40 seconds behind.

Since then, things have moved quickly for the young Frenchman. Seixas carried that momentum into the autumn with standout performances at the European and World Championships, as well as Il Lombardia, before taking another major step this season. 

He finished as the best of the rest behind Tadej Pogačar at Strade Bianche, dominated Itzulia Basque Country and then underlined his status in the Ardennes Classics by winning Flèche Wallonne and finishing second to Pogačar in Liège Bastogne Liège after a memorable battle on La Redoute.

That rapid rise has only increased the spotlight on Widar. While Seixas is now preparing for a Tour de France debut with the hopes of a nation on his shoulders, as France continues its long search for a first home winner since Bernard Hinault in 1985, Widar is simply trying to begin again.

For the Belgian, it t is about getting back to racing and picking up his development again on his own terms.