The 22-year-old Gloag, now in his second contract year with the Dutch team, collided with a car during a training session last August. "I was riding home after a recovery training," Gloag recalls the painful memory. "Suddenly, I was hit by a car, and I broke my kneecap. What I remember is looking at my left leg after the collision and seeing that my kneecap didn’t look right."

"At the moment, I feel happy and healthy again," Gloag continues. "I have completed a good training block. It feels like a victory that I can finally return to racing. A race is, of course, very different from training. I am looking forward to pinning a race number again and returning to the peloton with my teammates. I finally feel like a cyclist again."

“I had a difficult rehab but I’m incredibly fortunate to have had incredible support”, Gloag says. “I owe a lot to the two physios worth their weight in gold, Richard Spink and Marjolein Dukker, who were with me every step of the way, a great coach Jarno Voorintholt who coordinated everything behind the scenes, the whole Team Visma | Lease a Bike team for giving me the time and support I needed and of course my girlfriend Lucinda. I don’t know where I would be now without her.”

Gloag is looking forward to the coming week. "I am mainly focused on gaining race rhythm. Results are not the priority, and I shouldn’t expect that from myself either. We are starting with a balanced team where Johannes Staune-Mittet and Koen Bouwman will be the key riders for the general classification."

Alongside Gloag, Dario Belletta also makes his return to the peloton this week. The Italian broke his jaw in the recent Tour de Bretagne. "He also went through a tough rehabilitation process, but we are glad that he can start here again," adds sports director Robert Wagner.

Wagner is enthusiastic about the balanced team he is taking to the Czech Republic. "We have a nicely mixed team here, consisting of experienced and talented guys. Koen Bouwman and Milan Vader are the most experienced riders. They can teach our U23 riders a lot. Johannes won a stage here last year as U23 rider, but unfortunately had to abandon the next day due to illness. He is motivated to seek revenge. For Matthew Brennan, it’s a great opportunity to compete in the sprints against riders from seven other WorldTour teams."

Gloag: “This last year I have been helped by too many people to name. For that I’m eternally grateful and I will never forget the kindness I have been shown. I endeavour to repay it by riding as well as I can on the bike, starting on Thursday.”

In addition to Gloag, Belletta, Bouwman, Vader, Staune-Mittet, and Brennan, Morten Nørtoft completes the seven-man squad of Team Visma | Lease a Bike.