Mark Cavendish is vowing to return from injury as soon as possible in order to repay the faith shown in him by his team-mates.
The 29-year-old crashed out of the opening stage of the 2014 Tour de France two weeks ago in Harrogate, suffering a separated shoulder.
He has since undergone an operation and has already climbed back on his bike for the first time since the incident on Sunday.
And Cavendish is determined to return to competitive action before the season is out in order to repay the faith and belief shown in him by his Omega Pharma-Quick Step team.
“I don’t know how long I’m going to be before I start racing, I just got back on the road on my bike yesterday,” he said. “Obviously I can’t be competing seriously until I can be guaranteed there’s no more shoulder damage.
“I had a grade four ligament tear, which was worse than we expected in the first few days, but I’ve had great people around me with my rehab and we’ll be talking with the team in the next few days to see what my program is.
“I’m in a great situation with the support I’ve had from my team and I’ve had an easyish year so far.
“I have to finish the season strong to honour my team and honour the faith they’ve had in me.
“I want to do that properly, I don’t want to be just riding around, and worse I don’t want to crash and damage my shoulder even further.”
© Sportsbeat 2014