Philippe Gilbert has set a date for his return to competitive cycling after recovering from a serious knee injury suffered on this year's Tour de France.
The Quick-Step Floors rider ended up with a broken left knee cap after falling over a parapet during stage 16, though he defied the pain to ride the final stretch to the finish line.
Gilbert was forced to withdraw from the race after the stage and uploaded a picture of the damage on Twitter the following day, with the image showing a significantly swollen and bruised left thigh and knee.
However, the 36-year-old is fit to compete again and will be part of the field for the one-day Grand Prix d'Isbergues on September 23.
"I can't tell you how happy I am that I will be back racing this year," Gilbert said via a press release from his team.
"There are some interesting appointments for me, like racing in China, both on World Tour level in the Tour of Guangxi and of course in the final Hammer Series in Hong Kong. Our team is sitting second on the leaderboard, so we can expect a good fight for the overall victory next month.
"I am very ambitious, I want to win races, that is how things are working in my head.
"People may think it’s crazy to set such goals – and maybe it won't happen this year – but this mentality is what drives me as a rider and what gave me the motivation to get back to the wolfpack as fast as possible, against all odds."
